Viva!'s Mince Pies

Vegan

This is our wonderful mince pie recipe. Here we show how to make them with your own pastry. To simplify, buy ready-made shortcrust pastry. Jus Roll is vegan, as are many supermarket options.

Serves:

4 - 6

Time:

1 hour

Ingredients:

Makes 36 pies using small bun tins (6cm/21⁄2 inches across the top).
Makes fewer if you use larger bun tins, but you will need to use larger cookie cutters for linings and lids.

Pastry
350g/12oz plain flour
75g/21⁄2oz white vegetable fat (NB White
Flora isn’t vegan but Trex and plain white
vegetable fat are fine – just check the
ingredients)
75g/1⁄2oz vegan margarine, eg Pure
Pinch salt
Cold water – 2-3 tbsp
OR 500g ready-made vegan plain pastry, defrosted and rolled out as Stage 6

Filling
700g/11⁄2lb mincemeat
Soya milk to glaze

Method:

1. Make pastry in advance. Add the sieved flour, margarine, white fat, salt and water to a food processor. Give it a quick whizz - a couple of seconds.

2. Remove the lid and check the texture with cool fingers – run them under the cold tap before touching pastry. If it looks like it will form a ball of pastry easily, remove. If not, add 1 tbsp water and whizz again for a second or two. Remember, too much water makes pastry hard, so go easy!

3. Remove, form into a ball and place in plastic bag. Wrap up and put in the fridge for 20-30 mins.

4. Pre-heat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.

5. Grease tins.

6. With cool hands, roll just over half of it to about 3mm/1⁄8 inch thick.

7. Use each half to make 36 large circles and 36 smaller, using the cookie cutters. You will need to gather up pastry scraps and re-roll to make them all.

8. Line each hole with the larger pastry rounds.

9. Fill each one with mincemeat - not too much, to just below the pastry edge.

10. Dampen each lid a little with cold water. Press them on top, sealing the edges.

11. Brush each one with a little soya milk. Using a knife or scissors, make 2 little snips on the top.

12. Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins until they are light golden brown.

13. Cool them and then sprinkle with sieved icing sugar.

14. Store in an airtight container - they can be re-warmed before serving.