Cranberry mince pies recipe

The tart red berries alongside the zesty orange really enhance the flavour of these cranberry mince pies.

Cranberries are a rather sidelined fruit. They usually only get their moment in the spotlight once a year: on the Christmas table as a sauce for the turkey. But this is a shame as cranberries are actually very versatile. They are great on top of meat pies with a glaze over the surface. They work well in bakes and puddings, as confits and chutneys and jellies. And they are brilliant in these cranberry mince pies. The dry, vibrant berries really lift the flavour of a jar of mincemeat. This recipe also uses orange zest to really pack in the Christmassy aromas. You can make your own mincemeat for the filing using our classic mince pies recipe. You can still add the cranberries and orange zest in the same way.

Ingredients

• 100g butter, cubed
• 200g plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 50g caster sugar
• Zest of an orange
• 1tbsp orange juice
• 100g cranberries
• 200g mincemeat
• Icing sugar

Method

1. Put the butter, flour and ground almonds in a large bowl and rub together with your hands until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Mix in the sugar, half of the orange zest, and orange juice, until it forms a dough.
3. Roll the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
4. Tip the dough out onto a floured work surface. Roll out to about the thickness of a £1 coin and stamp out 12 circles. Use these to line a 12-hole tart tin.
5. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
6. Mix together the cranberries and mincemeat, then spoon into the pastry cases and scatter with the remaining orange zest.
7. Bake the mince pies for 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.

Top tips for making cranberry mince pies

These pies are open like a jam tart, which reduces the amount of pastry you need. If you prefer them closed, gather your offcuts into a ball and re-roll them. Then stamp out 12 stars to use as lids

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