Fig And Walnut Mince Pies Food

FIG AND WALNUT MINCE PIES

Steps:

• To make the mincemeat, put the dried fruit, glacé cherries and walnuts into a bowl. Pour over the alcohol, the ginger and the spices. Stir well and leave to stand for 1-2 hours, stirring from time to time. Add the banana and mix well.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Grease a 12-hole jam tart tin with a vegan margarine.
• Roll the pastry out thinly. Using an 8cm circular pastry cutter and a 4cm star-shaped pastry cutter, cut out 12 circles and 12 star shapes.
• Press the circles gently into each section of the tin, then put a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat into each and top with the star shaped pastry.
• Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
• Cool in the tin for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Serve while still warm, sprinkled with a little caster sugar and a healthy scoop of vanilla flavoured vegan icecream.

WALNUT MINCEMEAT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in. circle. Line a 9-in. pie plate with crust; trim and flute edge. In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Combine the sugar, flour and salt; gradually add to eggs. Stir in mincemeat, walnuts and butter; pour into crust., Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325° bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool completely. Store in the refrigerator.

PEAR, FIG, AND WALNUT PIE

Steps:

• Bring wine, figs, and star anise to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer until figs are softened, 10 to 12 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer figs to a large bowl. Cook liquid over medium-high heat until reduced to a syrup, about 3 minutes; discard star anise. Pour syrup over figs.
• Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk of dough to a 13-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Trim dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang; refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Roll out second disk to a 13-inch round. Cut out steam vent in center with a cookie cutter; refrigerate or freeze dough round and cutout until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Peel and core pears; slice into 1/4-inch-thick wedges. Add pears, walnuts, lemon juice, granulated sugar, salt, and cornstarch to figs and syrup; stir until well combined. Spoon into pie plate, piling high in center. Dot with butter; lightly brush edge of dough with water. Drape second disk of dough over pin; center over filling. Gently press around filling to fit; trim dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold edge of top crust under bottom one; crimp to seal. Brush water on bottom of cutout; press onto top crust. Beat egg yolk with cream; brush all over dough. Sprinkle pie generously with sanding sugar; freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F, with rack in lower third.
• Transfer pie plate to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, and bake until just golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°F. Bake until juices are bubbling and crust is deep golden brown, about 1 hour. If edges brown too quickly, cover with a foil ring (see page 324). Let pie cool completely on a wire rack.