Little Eccles Mince Pies

Found this very easy recipe on the Good Food website.

I much prefer these to the tradtional mince pies, which I find too dry & filling. You can make these & freeze them before the baking stage, andthen bake from frozen when needed. I have about 10 in my freezer now, for when guests pop round.

Ingredients

• 500g block all-butter puff pastry
• flour , for dusting
• 450g mincemeat (see 'goes well with')
• 1 egg white , lightly beaten
• golden caster sugar 

1. Roll the pastry out to about the thickness of a 50p piece on to a floured surface, and cut out 10cm circles, then continue to re-roll and cut out until you have about 18 circles.
2. Place 1 tsp of mincemeat in the centre of each circle, brush the edges with egg white, then gather together tightly to completely encase the mincemeat.
3. Flip the pies over so the sealed edges are underneath, then squash them with your hand so you have a small puck-shaped pie.
4. Cut two small slits in the top of each pie, brush generously with egg white and scatter with sugar. The pies can now be frozen for up to 2 months. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and bake for 15 mins from raw or 25-30 mins from frozen.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Made these delicious cupcakes last weekend. They ave a yummy lemon curd centre and soft meringue topping. Very easy to make! Recipe from the Good Food website.

• 200g caster sugar
• 100g softened butter
• 2 eggs , plus 2 egg whites
• zest 2 lemons , plus 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
• 100g self-raising flour
• 4 tbsp lemon curd 

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Beat half the sugar and all the butter until pale, then add whole eggs, one by one, beating in well each time. Stir in the zest and a squeeze of lemon juice, then fold in flour. Check the batter's consistency; it should softly drop off the end of a spoon. Add more lemon juice if it's a bit stiff.
2. Line a 12-hole bun tin with cake cases and put 1 large tbsp mix in each. Smooth then make a little dip in the centre. Spoon 1 tsp lemon curd into each dip and cover with 1 tbsp cake mix. Bake for 10 mins.
3. Meanwhile, place the egg whites into a clean bowl, whisk until stiff peaks form, then whisk in the rest of the sugar a tbsp at a time. Keep whisking until the mixture looks glossy and has thickened a little, like shaving foam. Spoon the mixture into a freezer bag and snip off the end to leave a hole with a 1.5cm diameter.
4. Take the cakes out of the oven - tops should be very pale and just firm - then pipe meringue all over the cakes. Return to the oven for 10-15 mins until the cakes are cooked through and meringue lightly browned. Can be made 1 day ahead.

Autumn Walk photos

So, this is the start of my blog. I am interested mainly in good food and amateur photography, so I guess that's what this blog will be full of. Hope someone finds it interesting!


These are some photos I took of my son during a wee autumn walk, He is so much fun to photograph!