Treacle Mince Pies.

Ingredients:

Makes 12

For the pastry:

225g Butter, cold and diced (plus a little extra for greasing)

350g Flour

100g Soft brown Sugar

1 Egg

For the filling:

400g Golden syrup

160g Fresh white Breadcrumbs

75ml Orange juice

400g Mince meat

Method:

For the pastry:

• In a mixing bowl add the butter and flour. Rub together until evenly mixed and the consistency of coarse sand.
• Add the egg and mix to form a dough.
• Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Using a 12 slot muffin tin ( at least 1 inch deep), grease the inside thouroughly with butter.
• Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured to the thickness of a one pound coin ( 2mm)
• Cut discs with a circumference 1.5cm wider than the top of the muffin tins, carefully line the muffin holes with the pastry, ensuring there are no air pockets between the tin and pastry. The pastry should go just about all of the way up the sides.

For the filling:

• In a bowl mix together the golden syrup, breadcrumbs and orange juice.
• Spoon 1 tblsp of mince meat into the bottom of each tart.
• Fill to the top with the treacle tart mix.

• Pre-heat an oven to 160 degrees C ( 325 degrees F) gas mark 3
• Bake the pies for 20 minutes, the treacle mixture should be golden brown and the pastry crisp.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing carefully from the tins.