In the UK, Mince Pies go hand in hand with Christmas, just like Christmas Pudding, Christmas Crackers and Yule Log! They are individual pies, and you can eat them cold or warm, served with cream, or custard or crème fraiche or whatever you want really!

I used to make mince pies with my Mom at Xmas, and I still have the same cake tins that we used 20-25 years ago when I was a little girl.

Not many people make their own mincemeat (which is the filling of the pies, it is a sweet fruit chutney style filling, flavoured with spices, fruit and often brandy) these days because it is so cheap and readily available in the shops. Back in ‘Ye Olde Days’ the pies did actually contain meat, but now are sweet rather than savoury.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_pie

Not sure where you can buy mince meat in the US, but probably more speciality grocery stores and European markets? Someone once told me they had seen it in the baking section of Wal-mart. Here’s a recipe to make your own though:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/h...tmas-mincemeat,1235,RC.html

Mince pies can be as basic or as fancy as you wish. The basic ones we used to make were just plain shortcrust pastry cut into rounds and filled with shop bought mincemeat.
http://www.deliaonline.com/cookery-s...rtcrust-pastry,21,AR.html

But you can do all kinds of variations; use sweet pastry, make decorative shapes for the lid of each pie, use puff pastry, top each pie with crumble or marzipan rather than pastry. You can even bake the mincemeat into cupcakes, it is very versatile stuff.

This is a good basic recipe with pictures too:
http://www.cookuk.co.uk/cake/MincePies.htm

i LOVE Mince pie!!! my mom made them all year long - but especially in november and december.

and ... yes ... you can find the filling in most grocery stores here. i like to eat it right out of the jar. i'm too impatient to wait for the pie to bake. :lol:

My mom always made mince meat pies. She would have jars of that stuff on hand all year long just in case she got a craving for it when holidays weren't around, but mostly she made them during holidays. She had a life long friend that would make REAL mince meat and can it and then give it to mom, which she then made pies. I, for one, didn't like them.
But the smell of them was awesome!

They were one of my Dad's favorite pies. It was a holiday special along with the fruitcake made in Nov to be eaten in DEC...,.I was a fussy kid and never tasted either :D I know the cake was flamable soaked in some kind of booze :D

WE never had the pies for the holidays. they do look good and I quess there is really no reason why we shouldn't try them. I didn't know there are raisins in the filling. THANKS for sharing

Years ago I found a recipe for mincemeat cookies on the box of Nonesuch mince pie filling . . .and I've been making them every year since! Nobody else in the family likes the cookies or the pies, and the recipe makes a huge batch of cookies - so I'm still eating them in February most years!

A friend of mine just came back from England and she brought me back a box of 6 mince pies. They were delicious.

Gosh Mary, those looks delicious, I love making mince pies, but its difficult to get the jar of mincemeat here. Guess what I am bringing back from my trip to the UK, amongst other things, loads of fabric, and I just love HobbyCraft. I might just spend the week in Hobbycraft with the kids.
yea.

Elle

Those look so good!

I love mince meat. My family has always made what is known as green tomato mince meat. This year we did not can any and my family always wants a mince pie at Christmas. I was cleaning my pantry and came across a jar that was dated 1997. It was sealed and when I opened it was still good. I made a pie and every one said it was just as good as if it had been canned yesterday. Yes you can buy mince meat in many grocery stores.