Apricot Mince Pie Food

APRICOT-MINCE PIE

Steps:

• In medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
• Gather pastry into a ball. Divide in half and shape into 2 flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.
• Heat oven to 425°F. With floured rolling pin, roll one pastry round into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 10-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.
• In 1 1/2-quart saucepan, mix apricots and sugar. Add just enough water to cover apricots. Heat to boiling over medium heat; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered about 20 minutes or until apricots are tender; drain.
• Place apricots in pastry-lined pie plate. Spread with mincemeat. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate.
• Roll other round of pastry. Fold into fourths and cut slits so steam can escape. Unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute as desired. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.
• Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is brown, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Serve warm.

APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour and the salt in a bowl; cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly. Using a fork, mix in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough just holds together. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Working on a floured work surface, roll each ball out into a crust big enough for a 9-inch pie dish with an inch or so to spare. Carefully lift a crust, fold into quarters, position into pie dish, and unfold the crust. Set the other crust aside.
• Mix the sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined; stir in the lemon juice and apricots. Spoon the apricot filling over the pie crust in the dish, and top with the reserved crust. Crimp the edges of the crusts together with a fork, cut away the excess crust, and cut slits into the pie to allow steam to escape. Cover the edges of the pie crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent burning.
• Bake on center rack of the preheated oven until the pie is browned and the filling is bubbling and thickened, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool and sprinkle top with 1 teaspoon of sugar.

FRESH APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• Combine ingredients.
• Pour into 9" pie rich pastry dough crust.
• Bake at 350 for one hour.

MINCEMEAT APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Line a 9 1/2-inch deep dish pie plate with the pastry dough & flute the edges.
• In medium bowl, combnine all the ingredients & pour into lined pie plate.
• Bake in the lower 1/3 of the oven for 15 minutes, then move the pie up to the center of the oven & bake another 20 to 25 minutes until filling is bubbly.
• Cool & serve.

MINCE PIES

Steps:

• Place 375g plain flour and 260g softened unsalted butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency.
• Add 125g caster sugar and 1 large beaten egg, and mix together.
• Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix.
• Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10 mins.
• Scoop the large jar of mincemeat into a bowl and add 2 segmented satsumas, 1 finely chopped apple and zest of 1 lemon.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
• Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick.
• Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 16 bases and place them into muffin trays. Put 1½ tbsp mincemeat mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg.
• Re-roll out the pastry to cut 7cm lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the beaten egg, sprinkle with the extra caster sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.
• Bake the mince pies for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with a little more icing sugar before serving.

ORANGE, CRANBERRY & ALMOND MINCE PIES

Steps:

• Whizz the butter, flour and ground almonds in a food processor until the butter has disappeared. Pulse in the sugar and half the orange zest. Add the milk and keep whizzing until a rough dough comes together. Tip onto the work surface, press together and shape into a smooth disc, kneading once or twice if you need to. Chill for 15 mins. Can be made up to 3 days ahead and chilled, or frozen for up to 1 month.
• Scatter a little flour onto the work surface. Roll out the dough to about the thickness of a £1 coin. Using an 8cm cutter, stamp out 24 circles and use to line the holes of 2 x 12-hole bun tins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Mix cranberries and mincemeat, then spoon into cases. Scatter each pie with flaked almonds. Can be frozen for up to 1 month. Bake the pies for 18-20 mins until the pastry and almonds are golden. When ready to serve, dust with the tiniest bit of icing sugar. Stir 2 tsp icing sugar and remaining zest into the crème fraîche, then dollop onto each pie to serve.

IMPOSSIBLY EASY APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350ºF.
• Grease 9" pie plate.
• Stir together all ingredients except preserves, whipped topping and nuts until blended.
• Pour into pie plate.
• Bake 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.
• Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Heat preserves and nuts over low heat until melted; spread over pie.
• Cool and garnish with whipped topping.
• Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

PORK, APRICOT & PISTACHIO PIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line 6 holes of a muffin tin with strips of baking parchment (these will help you to lift out the pies once cooked). Set aside a quarter of the pastry and roll out the remaining pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of a 20p coin. Cut out 6 x 8cm circles and use to line the muffin tin holes, leaving a little overhanging the top edge.
• Put the pork in a bowl, add the remaining ingredients, except the egg, and season. Mix by hand until combined, then pack the meat firmly into the cases.
• Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness. Cut into 0.5cm strips and create a lattice pattern on top of the pies. Trim off any excess. Brush the inside edge of each pie with egg, then roll up the overhanging pastry (from step 1) to stick the layers together. Can be covered with cling film and chilled for up to 2 days.
• Brush pies with egg and bake for 45 mins until golden. Cool and eat with pickle.

FRAGRANT SHEPHERD'S PIE WITH APRICOTS

Steps:

• Brown the lamb in batches in a large, deep frying pan (there's no need to add oil). Once each batch is browned, transfer it to a sieve and pour off the excess fat from the pan before cooking the next batch. Set aside the browned mince and wipe out the pan with some kitchen paper. Whizz the onions, ginger, garlic and spices together in a food processor until finely chopped and a little pulpy (you can add a drop of water if you need to), then tip into the same pan with the oil. Cook over a medium heat for 5-6 mins until the onion is softened and the spices become fragrant.
• Return the meat to the pan along with the chopped tomatoes and purée, honey and the stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hr, adding the apricots after 30 mins. The lamb and apricots should be tender, and the sauce thickened; if it's a little wet still, simmer, uncovered, for another 10 mins. Remove from the heat, stir in the coriander leaves and season well.
• While the lamb is cooking, prepare the potato topping. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 mins until tender. Once cooked, drain well and mash with the butter, seasoning and enough milk to give you a creamy consistency.
• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Tip the lamb mixture into a large ovenproof dish and pile the mash roughly over. (It helps if you start from the edges and work your way towards the middle.) If you're making ahead, cool then freeze the pie at this point, uncovered. Once frozen, cover with cling film and use within 1 month, defrosting thoroughly before reheating.
• Bake for 40 mins from warm, or for 1 hr from cold, until the topping is beginning to brown and the filling is hot. If you like, scatter with some toasted cumin seeds to serve.

APRICOT AND HAZELNUT MINCE PIES [GLUTEN-FREE]

Steps:

• To make the pastry: put the flour and cinnamon into the bowl of a food processor.
• Add the butter and pulse until it looks like very fine breadcrumbs.
• Sprinkle in the sugar and 3 tbsp cold water, and pulse until the mixture starts to clump together, about 30 secs.
• Tip the mixture onto a board and gently squeeze the pastry until it comes together into a ball - add water if it feels dry.
• Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 [For Americans, that's 375 F).
• Roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of £1 coin (3.15mm).
• Using a 7cm cutter, cut out 10-12 discs and use to line a 12-hole bun tin with them.
• Use a 6cm cutter for the lids, or use a 6cm star cutter to make star shapes.
• Chill both.
• Make the mincemeat: put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse on and off until evenly chopped.
• Spoon 1-2 tsp into each tart, dampen the edge of the pastry bottom with water and sit a smaller pastry disc or star on top.
• Using scissors, snip a hole in the lid, if you've made round tops.
• Bake for 12-15 mins until golden brown.
• Lift onto a wire rack to cool and dredge with icing sugar.