Recipe for fruit mince pies

1. Make spiced fruit mince. Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 3 days before using; stirring once a day.

2. Blend or process flour, butter, rind, oil and sugar until crumbly. Add egg and enough of the water to make ingredients cling together. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth. Cover pastry; refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly grease two 12-hole (2 tablespoons/40ml) deep flat-based patty pan trays.

4. Roll two-thirds of the pastry between sheets of baking paper until 3mm (1/8-inch) thick. Cut 24 x 7.5cm (3-inch) rounds from pastry.

5. Place rounds into pan holes. Divide fruit mince among pastry cases. Roll remaining pastry between sheets of baking paper until 3mm (1/ 8-inch) thick. Cut 12 x 5cm (2-inch) rounds from remaining pastry. Cut small stars from each round. Top half the pies with the rounds; top remaining pies with the star cut-outs. Brush tops with extra beaten egg.

6. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust with sifted icing sugar, if you like.