Mince Pies and Brandy Butter
Use decent brandy or Somerset Cider brandy and use best luxury mincemeat. These little tarts are so good just as they are; don’t go to all the trouble of making your own mincemeat. This recipe has less pastry and uses less mincemeat than the usual version and the frangipane makes them just delicious.Serve the brandy butter in a scoop alongside the little tarts or put in a bowl and let people help themselves. The contrast of hot mince pies and cold brandy butter is excellent.
MINCE PIES:
Roll out the pastry and using a cutter press into tart tin, and leave in fridge for
1/2 hour. Beat butter until soft then add the sugar and ground almonds. Mix in the flour, followed by the eggs and finally the brandy. Half fill the cases with mincemeat then cover with frangipane. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 25 mins. Cool on wire rack. Dust with icing sugar.
BRANDY BUTTER:
Mix it all together and put in fridge, covered, until required.
Theo Hodges
Theo Hodges was born in Kent. After a degree in Graphic Design she joined J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency as an Art Director working on accounts such as Rowntrees, Kraft and The Butter Council. While she was at University in Perugia, Italy she started collecting recipes from friends and family. In 1980 she set up her own design agency: Theo Hodges Design Consultants. For many years when they were young Theo, her sister and six cousins used to spend vacations at her Grandmother’s Victorian vicarage in Kent. ‘The thing about remembering childhood’ she says, is ‘there’s a whole lot of oblivion, and then out of it something floats up, quite sharp and clear. Many of the meals I can still see vividly and various recipes of mine were originally from Granny’s kitchen. ‘The kitchen garden was stuffed with raspberries, huge red dessert gooseberries, strawberries, runner beans, peas and much more with the hens in a shed at the back. But Granny only ate chicken breast and runner beans, followed by raspberries and Jersey cream - and therefore so did we. When raspberries were out of season, and in those days the season was much shorter, Granny made Victoria sponge cakes sandwiched with cream and home-made raspberry jam. On this limited but delicious diet we all thrived’. Theo’s mother was an excellent cook as well, and had been taught by the house- keeper at their house in Mougins, South of France. And once rationing was withdrawn in England in 1952 and good, fresh ingredients became available again, she amassed an enormous number of recipes which has formed the basis for Theo’s collection of family desserts.