Mince Pies and Mulled Wine

It's Saturday, which in the zoo means it's baking day!! 

As we are in the festive mood we went for some mince pies and alcohol-free mulled wine 

I had a bottle of alcohol-free red wine, and added:

200g of caster sugar

2 satsuma's, including peel

2 cinnamon sticks

10 whole cloves 

1 tbsp nutmeg

3 bay leaves 

Cap of vanilla essence 

Stick it all in a pan on a high heat until the sugar dissolves on a rolling boil. Let it simmer for at least 20 minutes. I left it bubbling until our mince pies were ready

For the mince pies you will need:

1 jar of mincemeat for the filling

180g plain flour

130g butter

60g caster sugar

2 eggs

Icing sugar to decorate 

****preheat oven to 180****

Tip the flour into a bowl

Add the sugar 

And the butter 

Whisk one of the eggs and pour in

Mix well until you have pastry

Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 10 minutes 

As our table cloth is covered in glitter glue, I stuck down some grease-proof paper to roll out the pastry on

Cut out 6 big circles for the bases and 6 small circles for the lids

Fill the cases with the jar of mincemeat

Whisk the second egg and use to brush the top of the cases before adding the lids - it helps seal them when cooking

Pop in the oven for 15 minutes and have a tantrum when they take too long...

The middle will be boiling hot and take a long time to cool down 

They are worth the wait!!

The smell of the mince pies baking and mulled wine boiling really has made the house smell of Christmas