Makes around 12 mince pies

This chocolate orange mince pies recipe combines the tastiest things you usually eat at Christmas. A very simple but delicious twist on an ultra-traditional festive treat.

Ingredients:

• 280g plain flour
• 125g icing sugar, sifted
• pinch of salt
• 200g butter, diced
• 2 egg yolks
• 500g mincemeat
• 300g plain chocolate
• 2 clementines, zest and juice
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• double cream to serve

Method:

1. Mix the flour, icing sugar and salt together in a bowl. Mix in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the eggs until the mixture comes together in clumps. Knead the pastry briefly until smooth, wrap in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for one hour

2. Remove the pastry from the fridge, and roll out to a thickness of 6mm, the thickness of two stacked pound coins. Using a 7.5cm fluted cutter, stamp out 12 discs from the pastry and use them to line a 12-hole bun tin.

3. Break your chocolate into a small bowl and put this over a pan of boiling water (be careful not to burn yourself). Allow the chocolate to melt slowly, stirring very occasionally to ensure that it melts evenly. Mix in the mincemeat and the clementine zest & juice, then fill each pastry hole with two teaspoons of your choco-mincemeat mix.

4. Brush the edges of your pies with a little milk. Using a 6cm/2n fluted cutter, cut out 12 circles and use them to top the mince pies, pressing the edges together with your fingertips. Brush the top of each one with beaten egg.

5. Re-roll any remaining pastry and cut out star or snowflake shapes to decorate the top of each pie. Gently place the decorations on top, then brush again with egg.

6. Bake your mince pies in the oven for 25 minutes 200/400/gas mark 6 until the pastry is cooked through. Allow to cool, and serve with chilled double cream.