Homemade Vegan Mince Pies & Jam Tarts, Part 1 of 2

“Today I’m going to show you how to make mince pies, English style, because it’s almost Christmas. People in England, they make mince pies for Christmas, apart from Christmas pudding and other forbidden sweetness.” “I’m going to mix some flour and salt, just a pinch of salt and flour.” “But in ordinary cases, if you use 225 grams of flour, then you’d use 100 grams of fat, vegetable fat solid.” “Mix this salty flour together with the vegan butter. Use your hand, very lightly. And it should be in the cold.” “Now you need like two tablespoons of water for the proportion that I’ve told you above.” “If it’s not enough water, you put more. You just put enough so that it becomes a dough.” “And then you roll lightly.” “Roll it out until it’s a little bit thin, and then you can cut it.” “It’s just a little bit bigger than the top, the mouth, then it’s OK for the top. To lay in the tray, you have to make a bigger one.” “We can dip a little bit in it and lay your tray.” “Before we start that, we preheat the oven. You bake this for about 15 minutes, so you put the (timer) on for 15 minutes.” “And the electric oven should be 230˚C, that is about 450˚F.” “Now I’m going to cut this pastry and then we can put it on there. You roll it out thin, about half a millimeter or one millimeter; it depends on how thick you want it. And now you take it off one by one. You put it in the tray here. Push it down a little bit, so it goes inside the deep tray in there.” “Now we have to fill it with the (vegan) mincemeat, which is ready-made. You put about one tablespoon in there.” “Then you cut another six smaller ones to cover the mince pies.” “So now, I’m going to do some decorations. You can cut some of this leftover.” “Now, important! You have to use a knife, or even a toothpick, to put like three holes.” “So when you bake, the air will come out and will not ruin your cake.” “The oven is hot already. Put it right in the middle of the oven. There you are, 15 minutes.” “If it’s not golden or cooked enough, you can add a little bit more time later.”