• Pre-heat the oven to 230˚C / 210˚ Fan.

To Make The Pastry

• Sieve the flour and icing sugar together into a large mixing bowl.
• Chop the butter into small squares or “cubes” and rub the fat into the flour mixture with your hands until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Using your hands, bring the mixture together into a ball shape.

  You will need to add some water to do this, probably about 3 tbsps but start off by adding one and then more if necessary.
• Wrap in clingfilm and let it chill in the fridge for half an hour.

To Make the Mincemeat

• Chop all the dried fruit into small chunks, but big enough that there will still be some texture to the mincemeat. Grate the apple including the skin.
• Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan, until the mixture is all combined and softened.
• Leave to cool completely before adding to the mince pies.

To Assemble

• Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface to around 3 mm thick.
• You will need two sizes of cutters for the pies.
• Cut out 6 circles with the larger cutter and 6 circles with the smaller one. You may need to re-roll the pastry half way through.
• Put the larger circles into a shallow muffin or mince pie tin and spoon in the cold mincemeat mixture.
• Brush around the edge of each pie with some water and stick the smaller pastry circle on top as a lid.
• Use a fork to make holes in the lid of each pie to allow the steam to escape.
• Sprinkle the tops of the pies with caster sugar and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden.