Welcome to my stop on the Christmas hop. Here’s the link to Heather’s master list of hop stops: https://www.heathermccollum.com/kitchen/

And here’s the Facebook page for the hop: https://www.facebook.com/events/3866532973589852/ This page gives you the details of what you have to do to be in the draw for the $150 gift card.

Christmas mince pies are part of my memories of Christmas. Mum’s shortbread, mince pies, and Christmas cake rich in fruit–yum! Don’t let the name put you off. The mince in question is minced dried fruit, seasoned with spices, and the case is a rich buttery short pastry. Christmas mince pies are served during the Christmas season throughout much of the English-speaking world. And they are oh so easy to make, if you can get your hands on some Christmas mincemeat. (If you can’t, read on for a recipe for that part of it, too. If you’re making your own, you’ll need to start three days before you make the pies, and you need a heap of ingredients, but the recipe is easy-peasy.)

How to make the pastry

You’ll need: 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, 2 teaspoons mixed spice, 2/3 cup butter, softened, 2 tablespoons grated orange zest, 1/4 cup ice water, 1 large egg, beaten. You’ll also need a jar of sweet Christmas mincemeat. )

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Oil or butter your mini tart tins.

Sift the flour, half the sugar, and the spices into a bowl. (You can use pumpin spice or cinnamon or make your own mixed spice with 8 parts cinnamon, 4 parts ground allspice, 1 part ground nutmeg, 1 part ground ginger, and a pinch of ground cloves.)

Use a pastry cutter or two forks to mix in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Fingers work, too.

Stir in the orange zest. Sprinkle with ice water and gather the dough into a ball.

How to make the little pies

Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter to cut into circles. If you don’t have a cookie cutter, the rim of a glass will do. Choose one a bit bigger than the mouth of your tart tins. Also use a star cutter to make the star for the top. If you wish, you can cut out other shapes, or even use smaller circles to give the pies covered tops.

Line your mini tart tins with pastry.

Fill each cup with about a tablespoon of sweet mincemeat filling. Add your top piece of pastry. If you making a full lid, cut a cross in the centre to stop the mincemeat from bubbling out the sides. When the tray is filled, brush the tops with egg.

Bake in the oven until golden brown–about 15 or 20 minutes.

Cool slightly on a wire rack and then dust with the remaining icing sugar.

How to make Christmas mincemeat

2 large apples (a tart variety is best), peeled, cored, chopped

1 cup apple cider (substitute if you don’t want alcohol. Cranberry juice would be interesting, but whatever you wish)

1 cup candied red cherries

⅔ cup dark brown sugar

½ cup dried apricots, chopped

½ cup dried cherries

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup dried currants

½ cup dried figs, chopped

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

½ cup fresh orange juice

½ cup golden raisins

½ cup raisins

¼ cup lard–or, if you don’t have lard, unsalted butter works

½ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup dark rum, or you can use brandy or whiskey or something non-alcoholic

Fundamentally, you put all the ingredients into a bowl and leave them to soak overnight. Then, the next day, you simmer them stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is evaporated. Maybe 25 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in another quarter cup of whatever alcohol (or non-alcohol) you’re using, and put into sterilised jars.

You can use after 24 or 48 hours, or you can keep for up to a year.

Hop to the next stop on the cookie hop: Glynnis Campbell

E-mail your completed list of cookie names to Heather@HeatherMcCollum.com with “Historical Romance Authors are Sweet” in the subject line. Good luck!