Donal Skehan’s Mince Pie Star Slices
Library image
Thursday December 10 2009
Hailed as Ireland’s own Jamie Oliver, Donal Skehan believes in healthy, home-cooked food with a delicious twist. He blogs at The Good Mood Food Blog (www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com) and his .rst cookbook, Good Mood Food, was recently released to rave reviews. Here he shares his terri.c alternative mince pie recipe with LoveFood readers.
Christmas Mince Pie Star Slices
These mince pie slices are a wonderful alternative to the traditional mince pie. Use your own mincemeat recipe here if you have one. If not, most supermarkets stock handy jars of the stuff!
Serves 4-6
For the pastry:
170g .our
1tsp cinnamon
100g cold butter, cut into small chunks
1tbsp caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2tbsp water
For the .lling:
420g jar of mince meat
1 large cooking apple, peeled and cored
A sprinkle of brown sugar
Method:
Place the flour and cinnamon in a mmixing bowl. Add the butter and rub in using your .nger tips until you have a rough, breadcrumb-like mixture. Don’t worry, it will come together!
Add the sugar and the egg yolk and mix through with a spoon. Add the water slowly until the dough comes together. Form a ball with your hands, cover in cling .lm and place in the fridge to chill for at least 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Chop the apple into small rough slices and combine in a bowl with the mince meat.
Roll the pastry dough out to about half a centimetre in thickness and line a .uted tart tin with it. Make sure to cut out little stars from the pastry to decorate with later! Prick the base with a fork and .ll with baking paper and ceramic baking beans. Place in the oven and blind bake for 10 minutes, remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Fill the pastry base with the apple and mincemeat mixture and top with the pastry stars and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the pastry turns golden brown.
Serve cut into slices with a drizzle of cream!
Donal Skehan’s book Good Mood Food is available in all good bookshops. Visit his blog at www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com
