I’m an American who tried making mince pies for the first time. I have to say, I understand the hype. These are like a bite of Christmas.

23 comments

  4. Good work.

    So the next step is the pair up either with sherry or a nice sherry cask whisky (or a cup of tea obviously).

    But pro level is to lift the lid and put some stilton in there.

  6. Your decision to make your own rather than try to buy some will have made all the difference. Home-made are tastier and also stickier, and the pastry is better (because it doesn’t have to be shelf-stable).

    I’m so glad you’re converted.

    Your next step is to experiment with different kinds of pastry – little filo parcels or puff pastry vol-au-vents or a big shortcrust lattice tart.

    You can also fold a crumbled up mince pie into vanilla fudge as it sets.

    If you like the flavours of mince pies, you’ll likely enjoy Christmas pudding.

  8. These look great! I’m glad you made them yourself – ones you buy in the shop aren’t even comparable!

  12. Your stars remind me of the US flag, then again you’ve got 6 points instead of 5? Also, where the other 39 pies???

  13. I was ambivalent towards these as a kid, but grown up me absolutely loves them. They should be served with one of those boozy creams the supermarkets only sell at Xmas.

  14. *(Please have used fruit mince and not mince meat…)* …phew you’re good.

    When you find yourself adding a glass of whisk(e)y or brandy to jars of mince in July in advance of making pies at christmas, then you know you’re taking it seriously…

  15. Lift the star off, small spoon of brandy butter inside and put the star back on & 20 seconds in the microwave – Christmas heaven

  16. Odd historical fact of the day. They are called mince pies because historically (before the USA existed, indeed before the latest colonisation of the American continent) a main ingredient was indeed minced meat. Please don’t do that now.

  17. I’m American and love mince pies. Just made one last weekend for Thanksgiving. But it is not one of the more common ones. I have turned a lot of people on to the pie. Over here it is commonly called mince meat pie giving the idea it is made with meat resulting in a lot of turned up noses. My children now like them and I will make another for Christmas. Unfortunately the more family member like it the more they cut into my stash!

  20. Congratulations OP, they look pretty tastey. However, please dont introduce this to americans they wont understand, and they’ll ruin it. They will call them brit cakes, or limey pies, and call their own version mins lies ( because they miss spell every dam thing) and replace the pstry with pizza bread, and the filling with peanut butter. /s

  21. I made a batch a few years ago. 20 of them. I ate 19 of them before my wife asked for one, I was mortified! They are delicious!

  22. I always wondered how the USA avoided certain things like this.

    I guess it’s just a result of varying waves of immigration with some cultures becoming more dominant?

    I just think of things like the pumpkin spiced craze over there, clearly Christmasy spiced things are popular so it’s weird that mince pies, Christmas pudding etc. aren’t bigger.

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