Name: Mince pies with cheese
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: Bake
Ingredients: 225.00 g flour cake; 140.00 g butter cold, cubed; 1.00 orange zest only; 50.00 g yellow sugar; 1.00 eggs large, yolk only; 125.00 g cream cheese or soft blue cheese; 10.00 ml castor sugar; 1.00 lemon zest only; 200.00 g fruit mincemeat; 15.00 ml brandy optional; 1.00 eggs whites only, beaten; castor sugar

Recipe Disclaimer

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Ingredients (12)

PASTRY

225.00 g	flour — cake
140.00 g	butter — cold, cubed
1.00	orange — zest only
50.00 g	yellow sugar
1.00	eggs — large, yolk only

FILLING

125.00 g	cream cheese — or soft blue cheese
10.00 ml	castor sugar
1.00	lemon — zest only
200.00 g	fruit mincemeat
15.00 ml	brandy — optional
1.00	eggs — whites only, beaten
	castor sugar

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Method:

Put flour, butter, orange zest and sugar in a food processor or crumble with fingers. Add yolk and 15 ml cold water and mix to form a dough. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
Beat cheese to soften and add sugar and lemon zest. Set aside. Mix mincemeat and brandy.
Roll out just over half the dough, fairly thinly, on a floured surface. With a 7,5 cm round cutter, stamp out 12 shapes and use them to line a greased patty tin.
Put a heaped 5 ml measure of mincemeat in each pastry case. Do not overfill. Top with 5 ml cheese mixture.
Roll out remaining pastry and stamp out 12 rounds measuring 6 cm across. Cover filling with these lids and press pie edges together to seal. Roll out pastry offcuts and cut 12 star shapes.
Brush lids with egg white and top pies with stars. (Pies can be frozen in the patty tin at this stage for up to 6 weeks and defrosted before final finishing.) Brush stars with egg white and sprinkle with castor sugar. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 ºC for 12-15 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Serves 12.