If you don’t fancy making your own. Our experts have taste tested premium mince pies and there was one clear winner. Discover which supermarket made this year's best mince pies. Easy mince pies with pastry that will impress Using a large pastry cutter make 12 circles and then 12 stars using a small pastry cutter. 7. Place the 12 large pastry circles into the bun tin Nowadays, the classic mincemeat ingredients are a lot sweeter and include a variety of fruits such as apples, dried raisins, lemon, currants and brandy. But like all long-serving recipes, they can be open for interpretation. Here are some tasty additions to jazz up your shop bought mincemeat... Nuts - Depending on what your tastes are, adding almonds, Brazil nuts and hazelnuts will all work with your mincemeat. If you’re a real nut lover then why not add all three? Using the uncooked pastry shells, evenly apply around 400g mincemeat for the large tart or 50g to individual tarts and smooth the top.

Orange/Lemon zest - Some people find that shop bought mincemeat can be a too sweet. Try adding some orange or lemon zest to balance out the flavours. You want to get your pastry thin enough to cut out the 24 shapes you are going to need. Try and roll the pastry big enough so you can cut as many of the shapes for your mince pies out in one sitting. If you run out you'll have to screw the remaining pastry up into a ball and re-roll it. But any re-rolling isn't great for your pastry's health, so try and avoid it. 6. Cut out 12 circles

This is known as leaving your pastry to rest. You do it to try and minimise the pastry in your baking tins from shrinking once you cook it. You can simply leave it in the bowl and pop it into the fridge. 5. Lightly flour table top and roll pastry out on it

If you’re a mince pie novice then you’ve come to the right place. Our food editor has opened up her recipe book and given you access to the simplest step-by-step guide there is. To make the filling, turn the mincemeat out into a bowl, grate the zest of the tangerines into the mincemeat, then peel and chop the fruit. Throw the tangerine and apple pieces into the bowl and blend by hand. Another of my favourites is to take 150g of double cream and lightly whip it until it’s the consistency of shaving cream. Then add two to three tablespoons of rum, whisky or cognac.Lightly butter a 12-hole pie or patty tin. Tip the mincemeat into a bowl and stir so that the liquid is evenly distributed. Chocolate - If you really want to experiment then try stirring in a little grated chocolate or melting it into the mincemeat.