Mincemeat Walnut Pie Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Unroll pie crusts. Line ungreased 9-inch pie plate with one crust. Fill with mincemeat. Cover with second crust and seal edges. Cut slits in top crust to vent steam. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix flour and salt; cut in shortening until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., For filling, in a large skillet or Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink, 3-5 minutes, breaking into crumbles; drain. Add apples, apricot, brown sugar, raisins, apple juice, vinegar, orange zest and seasonings. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer until apples are tender, 15-17 minutes. Stir in rum. Remove from heat; cool slightly., Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut 20 circles with a floured 2-3/4-in. round biscuit cutter. Top half the circles with 1 tablespoon filling. Top with remaining circles; press edges with a fork to seal. Cut slits in top. Brush tops with egg; sprinkle with coarse sugar. Repeat with remaining dough and filling., Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Combine mincemeat, walnuts, apples, brown sugar, lemon juice and rum in a bowl. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Take filling out of refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Prepare crusts. Stir filling well and pour into shell. Top with full crust and make slits or make a lattice top. Crimp edges.
• Bake in preheated oven on low shelf for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Steps:

• Mince pies freeze very well, taking some of the headache out of all that Christmas preparation. If I make lots of these before Christmas, I freeze them raw and then cook them on the day. Cooked mince pies can be stored in a biscuit tin or airtight box and warmed through gently before serving. They are perfect with a glass of spicy mulled wine or a cup of coffee for a festive snack.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C/Gas mark 6. Brush the tin with melted butter.
• On a floured work surface, roll out the pastry to 1/8-inch/3 mm thick and, using the 2 1/2-inches/6 cm cutter, cut out 24 circles for the bases. Then use the smaller plain/fluted cutter or star cutter to cut-out 24 circles/stars for the lids. Re-roll the trimmings, if necessary.
• Line the holes of the cake tin with the larger pastry rounds. Fill each base with a teaspoon mincemeat and top with one of the smaller rounds or stars. Brush the tops of the mince pies with the beaten egg.
• Bake in the oven for 10 to 13 minutes until pale golden. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar (confectioners') to serve.
• This basic pastry is used in many popular recipes, from mince pies to quiches; it's also one of the easiest pastries to start with. The uncooked dough can be frozen or kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
• Shortcrust Pastry:
• Put the flour, salt and butter in a food processor and whiz briefly. Add half the beaten egg and continue to whiz. You might add a little more egg, but not too much as the mixture should be just moist enough to come together. If making by hand, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs then, using your hands, add just enough egg to bring it together. With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 3/4-inch/2 cm thick, then wrap in cling film or place in a plastic bag and leave in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Variations: Sweet Shortcrust Pastry: In place of the pinch of salt, use 1 tablespoon icing sugar (confectioners'). Soured cream shortcrust pastry: Replace the egg with 2 tablespoons sour cream or creme fraiche, adding just enough to bring it together.
• This delicious mincemeat will keep happily in a cool dark place for at least a year. If you are making your own suet (the fat that surrounds the beef kidney), make sure that every trace of blood has been removed before you whiz it in the food processor, otherwise it will cause the mincemeat to go off.
• Mincemeat:
• Put the apple chunks in a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon water, cover and cook over low heat for about 8 to 10 minutes until the apples are cooked down to a pulp. Allow to cool.
• Mix the apples with the orange zest, orange juice, lemon zest, lemon juice, suet, raisins, sultanas, currants, candied peel, dark brown sugar, almonds, mixed spice, and whiskey in a large bowl and put into sterilized jars.* Leave to mature, if possible for at least 2 weeks before using.
• Cut the fruit in 1/2 and squeeze out the juice. (Reserve the juice for another use, perhaps home-made lemonade.) Put the peel into a large bowl, add the salt and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for 24 hours.
• Next day, throw away the soaking water; put the peel in a large saucepan and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for about 3 hours or until the peel is soft.
• Remove the peel from the pan and discard the water. Scrape out any remaining flesh and membrane from inside the cut fruit, using a teaspoon, leaving the white pith and rind intact.
• In a clean large saucepan, dissolve the sugar in 1 3/4 pints/1 litre of water, then bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the peel and simmer gently for 30 to 60 minutes until it looks translucent (shiny and 'candied') and the syrup forms a thread when the last drop falls off a metal spoon. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 20 to 30 minutes to slightly cool.
• Put the candied peel into sterilized glass jars* and pour the syrup over. Cover and store in a cold place or in the refrigerator. It should keep, stored like this, for at least 3 months.

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, combine beef and apple cider. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, or until meat is tender. Remove meat and coarsely chop, then return it to the pot.
• Stir in chopped apples, sugar, currants, raisins, citrus peel, butter and cherry preserves. Add ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Let simmer, uncovered, over low heat until mixture is very thick, about 90 minutes. Stir in cherries and remove from heat.
• Refrigerate tightly covered for at least a week before using.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Put filling in unbaked pie shell and place pastry on top. Crimp edges and poke several holes in top pastry. Brush top with cream and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Place apples, butter, and lemon juice into a saucepan over medium heat, and cook, stirring often, until the apples are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the mincemeat and walnuts until thoroughly combined, and set the pie filling aside.
• Fit a pie crust into a 9-inch pie dish; pour the filling into the crust. With a brush dipped in water, moisten the edge of the bottom crust. Top the pie with the second crust, and crimp the two crusts together with a fork to seal. Cut 4 slits into the top crust for steam vents. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with water, and brush the yolk mixture over the top crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the pie from the oven, and cover the crust edges with strips of aluminum foil to prevent over baking. Return the pie to the oven, and bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 30 to 35 more minutes.

Steps:

• 1. Combine sugar, flour, spices and salt in bowl. Add apples, mix lightly.
• 2. Add mincemeat and walnuts, mix.
• 3. Heap into pastry lined 9-inch pie pan, dot with butter. Adjust top crust, flute edges, cut vents. Brush top crust with milk, sprinkle with sugar.
• 4. Bake in 425 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until crust is browned and apples are tender. Cool on rack.
• 5. NOTES : Use a combination of cooking apples such as Jonagold, Jonathan, Macintosh, Rome, Newton Pippen, Winesap or Golden Delicious for the best flavor. You can use homemade or commercial mincemeat in this.

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 375-degrees F. In medium-sized bowl, lightly beat 1 egg. Stir in mincemeat; spoon into prepared crust. In same bowl, beat remaining 3 eggs until frothy. Stir in sugar, corn syrup, brandy, butter, & salt until well combined. Fold in walnuts, Spoon over mincemeat in crust.
• 2. Bake pie 50-55 minutes or until a knife inserted in center of walnut layer comes out clean. Cool on wire rack completely before cutting. Serve with whipped cream.