Christmas Mince Pies

These delicious, decadent mince pies are a real winner to serve for tea over the Christmas season.The store-bought ones would be far better if they included some of the extras I have in this recipe.

Christmas Mince Pies (Makes 48)

Ingredients:
2 rolls Short crust pastry
milk and beaten egg for brushing
icing sugar for sprinkling

Filling:
1 bottle fruit mince
1 cup cranberries
1 cup pecan nuts
1 cup cherries
1/2 cup raisins
1 tot brandy

Method:
Mix all filling ingredients together in a bowl.

Roll pastry thinly (about 3 mm) and cut out rounds of 8cm in diameter to fit into patty pans.
Use a star cutter to cut out stars for the tops.
Put pastry rounds in the patty pans and place about 2 tsp of filling in each one.
Cover with the star pastry pieces and brush with milk.
Bake at 180 'c for 20 mins until golden.

Tip: Wait for the pies to cool before sprinkling with icing sugar. 

Store in an airtight container.