Benjamina Ebuehi’s Cardamom Crumble Mince Pies

Ingredients

For the mince pies

• 220g plain flour
• 45g caster sugar
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 130g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
• 1 egg
• 410g jar Christmas mincemeat

For the crumble

• 120g plain flour
• 30g caster sugar
• ½ orange, zest
• 60g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
• 8 cardamom pods, seeds finely ground

For the pastry

1. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine
2. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse sand.
3. With the processor running, add the egg yolk and 1 tbsp ice-cold water – it should start to clump; add a little more water if needed.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very briefly to bring together. Pat into a large disc, wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour, until firm.

For the pies

1. Preheat the oven to 200?C gas mark 6. Put the crumble ingredients in a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until you have chunky clumps; chill until needed.
2. Once the pie pastry has chilled, turn it out onto a lightly foured surface and roll into a circle about 0.5cm thick.
3. Using a 9cm cutter, cut out 12 discs and press them firmly into the holes of a muffin tin.
4. Fill each with 2 tsp mincemeat and cover each pie completely with the crumble mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is a deep golden colour.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completly. Dust with icing sugar before serving.