Gluten-Free Mince Pies

With Christmas just a few days away, I’m off home back to Yorkshire. But I couldn’t arrive empty-handed. My dad can’t eat wheat- he’s one of those genuine coeliacs, rather than the hipster type you see nowadays. That said, hipster trends have opened up the gluten-free market no end. You can actually go in a shop any buy something gluten-free by mistake because it actually resembles real food.

Not at all like my childhood years, which were spent eating vile 100% rice spaghetti, so gloopy once cooked it had to be rinsed twice under boiling water before we could eat it. I used to imagine every now and then that my mum was a bad cook- but no one could jazz up what early gluten-free food used to be like. Scanning the shelves in a Waterstones one day, I found a pretty good gluten-free pastry recipe that has served me well. You’re never going to get pastry that has the perfect texture- but this one rolls well, holds its shape and tastes nice. A Christmas miracle!

Ingredients:
80g brown rice flour
45g cornflour
20g gram flour
40g ground almonds
30g icing sugar
¼ tsp xantham gum
80g cold butter
1 egg

1 jar mincemeat
Icing sugar, for dusting.

Method:
1) Mix the dry ingredients together and work in the butter until you get fine breadcrumbs. I do this in a couple of pulses using a food processor.
2) Stir in enough beaten egg to bind (add bit by bit into the food processor) until the dough comes together. Shape into a ball and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3) Preheat the oven to 190°C, or gas mark 5. Lightly grease and flour a patty pan.
4) Lightly dust a surface with any flour and roll out the pastry to the thickness of a pound coin. Use a cutter (or glass) to cut out 12 rounds of pastry large enough to press into the prepared patty pan. Prick the bases with a fork, before filling with heaped teaspoonfuls of mincemeat. Use any remaining pastry to cut out smaller rounds to use as lids. These can be ‘glued’ down using a little milk, or remaining beaten egg. Brush the lids with a little milk or beaten egg. If there’s no pastry left, top the mincemeat with some flaked almonds.
5) Bake on the middle shelf in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the tops are light golden. Leave to cool for five minutes or so in the pan, before gently easing out and leaving them on a wire rack to cool.
6) Dust with icing sugar.

Merry Christmas!