Goji Berries Blog

Hi Everyone!

We thought it would be great to do something special for you as it’s Christmas!

So to get in the festive spirits we thought we’d create a brand new recipe for Goji Berry Mince Pies!

I don’t think these have been made before, and it’s a brand new recipe but the results were great! The mince pies we finished with were delicious!

So here is the recipe and we also made a video for you showing how they are made!

Part 1

Part 2

So you’ve seen how we did it! Here are the actual recipes (we’ve given you the option of making your own pastry and mince meat, or if you’re not a cook you can use ready made pastry and mince meat!):

Double-crust Goji Berry Mince Pies

Ingredients (makes 24 pies):

• 340g/12oz shortcrust pastry (either ready made or use pastry recipe below)
• butter, for greasing
• flour, for dusting
• 450g/1lb/2 cups mincemeat (If vegetarian make sure you get mincemeat with vegetarian suet)
• milk, for brushing
• icing sugar or caster sugar, for dusting
• 115g/4oz/⅔ cup Goji Berries (add more or less as desired)

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry as thin as you can on a lightly floured board. Once rolled, cut out 24 circles, using a 7.5 cm/3in plain round cutter or simply a glass as we used in the video. Then cut out another 24 circles with a 5cm/2in plain round cutter or a smaller glass. Lay the circles carefully aside.
2. If you want to make your own mincemeat, mix the ingredients in the separate recipe provided below. If using ready made mince meat, then empty the mince meat into a bowl and add your Goji Berries until the desired mix is acheived!
3. Grease 24 muffin tins and then dust them with flour. Then line the tins with the larger of the circles you cut earlier. Fill each one with the mincemeat you prepared, then brush the edges with milk (to help the lids stick - this is the step we forgot in the video!). Press the smaller circles on top and seal the edges with your finger/thumb as shown in the video. Brush the tops with milk.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the oven until the pastry is looking golden brown. Leave to cool in the tins, then transfer the pies to wire rack or plate. Dust the pies with a little icing sugar before serving for that final touch! They taste great served warm!

Goji berry mincemeat

Ingredients:

• 115g/4oz/⅔ cup Goji Berries (or more as desired)
  
• dessert apples, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
• 115g/4oz/⅔ cup raisins
• 115g/4oz ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
• 115g/4oz ready-to-eat dried figs or prunes, chopped
• 225g/8oz green grapes,halved and seeded
• 50g/2oz/½ cup chopped almonds
• 30ml/2tbsp lemon juice
• finely grated rind of 1 lemon
• 30ml/2tbsp brandy or port
• 1.5ml/¼tsp mixed spice
• 115g/4oz/generous ½ cup soft light brown sugar
• 25g/1oz/2tbsp butter, melted

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Add to the mince pies as above.

Tip: Mincemeat can be made up and kept in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Special Shortcrust Pastry

Ingredients:

• 225g/8oz/2 cups plain flour
• 10ml/2tsp ground cinnamon
• 50g/2oz/⅔ cup finely ground walnuts
• 115g/4oz/½ cup butter
• 50g/2oz/4tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 1 egg
• 2 drops vanilla essence
• 15ml/1tbsp cold water

1. Put the flour, cinnamon and walnuts in a food processor. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcumbs.
2. Turn the mixture into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Using a fork beat the egg with the vanilla essence and water. Gradually stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients.
3. Gather together with your fingertips to form a soft, pliable dough. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
4. Then wrap the dough in clear film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Tip: For regular pastry simply leave out the extra ingredients of cinnamon, walnuts, and vanilla essence.

OK so that’s it! I really hope you enjoy this recipe and have time to try it out! We really enjoyed eating ours (so did the rest of my family… in fact I think they ate more than I had!)

Please let us know how you got on with the recipe by leaving a comment below!

Happy Christmas!

Arthur & Joe

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