Mince Pies de luxe

Tonight I finished off my mince pies. they made the kitchen smell all Christmasy, mincemeat cooking can do that.  The thing that makes these mince pies so luxurious is the dollop of cream cheese inside with the mince - trust me it really works.

This recipe is from Josceline Dimbleby's Christmas Book which is well used!

Ingredients

250g(8oz) full fat cream cheese (Philadelphia)
50g(2oz) caster sugar
500g(1lb) Orange pastry
butter for greasing
500-625g mincemeat
milk to glaze
caster or icing sugar to decorate

Put cream cheese and caster sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy

Knead pastry lightly and roll out (rather more thickly than usual)

Using a 3 inch pastry cutter cut 24 rounds, re-rolling as necessary

Line greased patty tins with the rounds

Fill with spoonfuls of mincemeat and a good dollop of cream cheese mixture - smooth the top

Roll out the remaining pastry and with a smaller 2 inch cutter cut out 24 round tops

Moisten the underside of the tops and place on the filled pies

Press lightly together and make a small slit in the top of each pie

Brush the tops with cold milk and bake in the centre of the oven preheated to Gas Mark 7/220C/425F for 15 -20 minutes until light golden brown.

The pastry is so crumbly that you need to let them cool in the tins before removing with a round bladed knife.

Sprinkle generously with icing sugar.  Serve warm or cold I love them either way! Might have one for breakfast.

Merry Christmas and goodwill to all.