Bilgi Bakes | Cranberry, Orange & Cinnamon Festive Pies

Today I'm sharing with you a baking recipe which is an essential to try out before Christmas! With the biggest, most fabulously festive day of the year only precisely a week away (where did 2017 go I wonder?!) I have devised a recipe for anyone who is not a 100% lover of the traditional mince pie. A bit like Marmite, mince pies are one of those things which divide us into 'lovers' or 'not so keeners'. I like a regular mince pie (they're definitely best warmed up a bit in the oven and served with custard!) but I have come up with this no-mince-pie which will be a guaranteed hit with everyone. I made them raisin / sultana free and instead opted for luscious cranberries and glace cherries as they are oh-so seasonal, orange zest and warming cinnamon for a Christmas touch.

You will need:

star cookie cutter

round cookie cutter

12 hole cake tin

12 cake cases

Ingredients

for the short crust pastry

200g plain flour

100g butter / margarine

25g sugar

1 free range / organic egg

For the pie filling

50g self-raising flour

zest of 1 orange

6 glace cherries, quartered

2.5 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

40g sweetened, dried cranberries

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 free range / organic egg

60g golden caster sugar

How To

1. Begin by combining the butter / margarine with the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Add the sugar and egg to bind. Kneed on a floured surface until the pastry holds together well. Usually it'll take about 3 minutes.

3. Wrap in cling film and chill whilst you make the filling.

4. For the pie filling, add the dried fruits to the extract, margarine, zest and egg and mix together.

5. Sift in the flour and ground cinnamon.

6. Add the sugar and thoroughly mix together.

7. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and cut out 12 pastry cases and 12 stars for the tops. Roll them to get them to be large enough and then arrange the pastry in the paper cake cases.

8. Put some fork marks in the cases to prevent them from rising and them blind bake them for 7 minutes in a pre heated oven (180 degree centigrade.)

9. Spoon in the filling and the place the pies back into the oven for a following 10 - 15 minutes or until they are lightly golden brown.

10. Once baked, remove from the cake cases, place on a wire cooling rack and allow to fully cool, before dusting with icing sugar.

11. Enjoy!