Ingredients
- 250g full fat cream cheese
- 50g caster sugar
- 500g orange pastry (see below)
- oil for greasing
- 500-625g mincemeat
- milk (to glaze)
- icing sugar (to decorate)
For the orange pastry
- 500g plain flour
- 175g icing or caster sugar
- 375g half lard, half butter
- finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
Method
- To make the orange pastry, sift the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and then gently rub into the flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
- Stir in the orange zest. Then, using a knife, stir in orange juice until the dough just begins to stick together.
- Gather the dough and pat into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 mins before using.
- Now, put the cream cheese and caster sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth. Knead the pastry lightly and roll out rather more thickly than usual.
- Using a 7.5cm pastry cutter, cut out 24 rounds, re-rolling the pastry as necessary. Line greased pastry tins with the round and then fill to about half depth with mincemeat. Then put a teaspoonful of the beaten cream cheese mixture on the mincemeat and smooth.
- Roll the remaining pastry and with a 5cm pastry cutter, cut out another 24 rounds. Moisten the underside of these and place one on top of each base.
- Press the edges lightly together and make a small slit in the top of each pie. Brush the tops with cold milk and bake in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 220ºC for 15-20 mins until a light golden-brown.
- Allow the pies to cool before easing out of the tin with a round-bladed knife. Before serving, sprinkle generously with icing sugar.