Mince Pies

Steps

1. Finely grate the zest of the orange and set it aside. Squeeze the juice into a small cup and chill it. Half the zest goes into the pastry and half into the filling.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, salt and half the orange zest in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips, or pulse it in a food processor, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with a few pea-size bits of butter left.
3. Sprinkle in 3 tablespoons of the cold orange juice and toss with a fork until the dough holds together when you squeeze a handful. If it is still crumbly, add more juice or ice water a teaspoon at a time. Divide the dough in half, pat each half into a flat disk, wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Stir the mincemeat, grated apple and the rest of the orange zest together in a bowl.
5. Heat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the center. Lightly butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
6. On a floured counter, roll one disk about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out twelve 3 1/2-inch rounds with a fluted cutter, rerolling the scraps once if you need to. Ease each round into a muffin cup without stretching it, folding over any pleats, and prick the bottom twice with a fork.
7. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling into each pastry case, so it comes a little more than halfway up the sides.
8. Roll out the second disk and cut 12 stars about 2 inches across. Lay a star on each pie, brush the stars lightly with milk and sprinkle them with sugar.
9. Bake until the pastry is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then run a thin knife around each pie and lift it out onto a rack.
10. Just before serving, dust the pies with powdered sugar through a small sieve. Serve them warm or at room temperature.

Good to know

• Choosing a jar: Robertson's and None Such are both sold in the US. Read the label if you avoid meat or alcohol. Some mincemeat still has a little beef in it, and some versions are made with brandy or rum.
• Homemade filling with no suet and no alcohol: finely chop 2 cups of mixed raisins, golden raisins and dried currants, or pulse them briefly in a food processor. Stir in 1 grated apple, 2 tablespoons candied mixed peel, the grated zest of 1/2 orange and 1/2 lemon, 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon each nutmeg and allspice, a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 2 tablespoons orange or apple juice. Cover and chill overnight. Use it in place of the jarred mincemeat and apple. It keeps up to 10 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.
• Short on time? Store-bought refrigerated pie crust works too. Put all the orange zest in the filling and reroll the scraps for the stars.
• Mini pies: use a 24-cup mini muffin tin, 2 1/2-inch rounds, 1 1/4-inch stars and about 2 teaspoons of filling each. Bake 20 to 22 minutes.
• Make ahead: keep baked pies in an airtight tin for up to a week. To freeze, cool them completely and pack them with parchment between the layers for up to 3 months. Thaw on a rack for about an hour, then warm in a 250°F oven for 3 to 4 minutes.
• On Christmas Eve, set one on a plate for Father Christmas, with a carrot for the reindeer, the way British children do.