Ready, steady… Christmas

Heidi Selwood tells us how to make delicious chocolate and cranberry Christmas mince pies…

There is no better way to get in the mood for Christmas than delicious homemade mince pies. These are a mouthful of heaven; even if you don’t like traditional mince pies, the white chocolate and cranberries make them absolutely delightful.
Makes 24 mini, or 12 normal sized.

Ingredients:
– 375g ready-rolled shortcrust pastry (do not get the low fat version as it is too crumbly and they will fall apart)
– Flour, for rolling
– 250g mincemeat (you can buy this in a jar at any supermarket)
– 150g white chocolate chips
– 100g dried cranberries
– 1 egg yolk, beaten
– 30g demerara sugar
– 1 orange

Equipment:
– 24 hole fairycake tin (or 12 hole if you are making them normal sized!)
– 5cm pastry cutter (for the mini ones) or 10cm pastry cutter (for normal sized ones)
-Rolling pin
– Grater

Method:
1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees or Gas Mark 6.
2. Sprinkle some flour over a clean work surface and roll out your pastry to the thickness of a coin.
3. Use the pastry cutter and cut out 24 or 12 circles. Save the rest of the pastry for later.
4. Put a splash of oil on some tissue and wipe it inside the holes of the tin to grease.
5. Push the circles gently into the moulds on the tin and then put in the fridge for 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, empty the mincemeat into a mixing bowl and add the cranberries and white chocolate chips.
7. Then grate the zest of the orange into your mincemeat mixture and mix together until combined.
8. Return to your pastry, roll it out again and this time cut 24 (for mini) or 12 (for normal) stars to go on top of the mince pies. (If you have a star pastry cutter that’s even better!)
9. Remove the moulds from the fridge and pile them high with mincemeat, finishing with a pastry star on top.
10. Grab the beaten egg yolk and gently brush it over the top of each pastry star and sprinkle with sugar.
11. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until crisp and golden.
12. Remove from the oven and enjoy! I find they are best served warm with vanilla ice cream or pouring cream, but make sure to experiment and find something you enjoy.
13. Snap a picture – and send it to the Boar Lifestyle Instagram to get everyone in the festive mood!