lattice mince pie tray bake

lattice mince pie tray bake

So this is really just another way to bake mince pies but I think it’s so clever… I saw Mary Berry create a mince pie streusel where she grated pastry on top of the tray bake and thought I could take this a step further.  It’s a little less fiddly than making individual pies and I think it looks so intriguing too. Plus it’s genuinely the easiest thing in the world to make, especially if you’re using shop-bought mincemeat… and quite frankly, why wouldn’t you?   So all you’re really doing here is making pastry and you’ll need a nice robust sweet shortcrust pastry for this traybake as you want to be able to hold the cut squares in your hand without them crumbling.

I’ve used my favourite go-to mince pie pastry which has cream cheese and ground almonds in and is quite frankly the best bloody sweet pastry i’ve ever made and ever tasted.  It’s inspired by a recipe I found in Dan Lepard’s Short and Sweet so we really have him to thank but if you haven’t made it yet then more fool you.  It is incredible.

for the pastry

• 300g plain flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 112g caster sugar
• 150g unsalted butter
• 150g full fat cream cheese
• 75g ground almonds
• 1 egg yolk
• a little milk to bind
• 800g mincemeat

butter a swiss roll tin – I used a 20cm x 10cm tin but to be honest, any tin would work

make the pastry:

a sift the flour baking powder and sugar into a bowl, add the butter and rub until it resembles breadcrumbs

add the cream cheese, ground almonds and egg yolk, take a knife and mix until it comes together into a dough, you may need to add a little milk here, as I did, once it’s all together, wrap in clingfilm and chill the dough for at least 30 mins before rolling out. (The dough also freezes really well and will keep for about a month)

when rolling out use plenty of flour, the pastry is very short and crumbly so be generous with the flour and gentle when you roll… plus the flour will also help with the strips of lattice when weaving them together.

cut the pastry in half and then roll out one half to the size of your tray bake tray, carefully lift it into the tin and push it well into the corners of the tray.  Trim and smoosh the trimmings back into the remaining pastry

roll out the second half of the pastry so that it’s at least as long as your tray and then cut into thin strips – I used a fluted pastry roller which makes everything not only look pretty but also a lot more professional plus it’s very forgiving when it comes to straight lines.

make the pie:

fill your pastry-lined tray with mincemeat, ensuring you spread it out well so it’s evenly distributed, then you can begin to lattice

I always start by laying out all the lines of pastry for one direction and I start at one end and let the pastry strips hang over the other end, this way I know if I have enough, then I start in the other direction and this is where I begin to weave, over and under.  It’s next to impossible to write down this technique so here’s a very simple video showing you how…

brush the top with an egg wash made from 1 beaten egg mixed with a little milk and then bake at 160C for roughly 20mins or until the pastry is golden.

for more Christmas recipes, check these out on Dom in the Kitchen.

eat and of course, enjoy!