Slow Cooker Sunday: Eva’s Slow Cooker Mince Meat Pies

I was inspired by @utterlyscrummy to have a go at making mince pies using my slow cooker.  I’ve never made mince pies in my life and I almost chickened out when I saw you can buy a box of them for a £1.  However, the end result was much better than I expected and we all had fun making them.

I roped in my neighbour ‘Eva’, an aficionado in the kitchen, to give me a hand.  We’re very different in the kitchen.  I tend to follow recipes like a science experiment but she just bungs everything in similar to the Muppet’s Swedish Chef.

However, this is the recipe we cobbled together in the end.

Makes:  12 Mince Pies

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 tsp of Clementine Zest (approx ½ a Clementine)
• 5 small dessert apples or 2 large cooking apples.  Cored and roughly chopped.  We used Royal Gala.
• 2 Cardamon pods (Big Brown ones) cracked to release the flavour
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 2 tsp of mixed spice
• 4 cloves
• 500g of Dried Mixed Fruit
• 1 TBSP of Light Muscovado Sugar
• 1 TBSP of Dark Muscovado Sugar
• 125 of Apple Juice

Pastry

• 500g Dessert Pastry Block you could also use regular shortcut pastry.

Method:

1.)  Throw all of the ingredients into the slow cooker, mix well and cover and cook overnight.  Approx 10-12 hours.
2.)  Roll out the pastry block on a lightly floured surface until it is 2-3mm in thickness.  Try not to handle the pastry too much or it becomes tough.  Use a fluted edge cutter to make the bases.  It should be a 2-3 cm bigger in diameter than the openings in the muffin tins.  Gentle encourage them in.
3.) Fill the bases about 2/3 full of the filling.

4.) We used a selection of star cutters to make our tops.

5.) Pop in the oven for 20 minutes at 160 degrees.

6.) Remove from tin while still warm and place on a cooling rack.

7.) Use a sifter to sprinkle icing sugar on top.

They tasted so much better than store bought ones!  Enjoy!

Will you be using your Slow Cooker over the holidays?  Pop your recipes below.

Don’t forget we’re also on Pinterest with over 80 Slow Cooker Recipes to inspire you.

Merry Christmas and All the best in 2013!