Brandied mincemeat filo purses.

Brandied mincemeat filo purses recipe - All recipes UK
Ingredients
Serves: 6
6 sheets filo pastry, 30 x 50 cm each, about 180 g in total
45 g unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

Mincemeat filling
150 g mixed dried fruit, such as sultanas, raisins, currants and diced peel
4 tbsp brandy
1 cooking apple, about 250 g
30 g preserved stem ginger, finely chopped
25 g chopped walnuts
finely grated zest of 1 small lemon

Method
To make the filling, place the dried fruit in a bowl with the brandy and stir.
Cover and leave to soak for 1 hour or until the brandy has been absorbed.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6)
Peel, core and coarsely grate the apple.
Add to the soaked dried fruit together with the ginger, walnuts and lemon zest.
Mix well together.

Lay the sheets of filo out, stacking them on top of each other.
Cut the stack into six 15 cm squares, trimming off the excess pastry.
You will have 36 squares.
Brush each square very lightly with melted butter and layer them, with the corners offset, to make 12 stacks of 3 squares each.
Place about 1 tbsp of the fruit mixture on each stack, then gather up the edges and pinch together at the top to enclose the filling.
Place the pastries on a non-stick baking sheet and brush lightly with the remaining butter.
Bake for 12–15 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar.

Some more ideas:

For an unusual scented flavour, replace the brandy with cold Earl Grey tea, or with a fruit tea such as apple and ginger.

- To make date and apricot parcels, place 115 g ready-to-eat dried apricots and 115 g stoned dates, both finely chopped, in a bowl with 4 tbsp orange juice.
Stir, then leave to soak for 1 hour.
Add the finely grated zest of half orange,
25 g chopped pistachio nuts,
half tsp ground cinnamon and
half tsp orange flower water.
Cut 2 stacked sheets of filo pastry into 3 long strips, then cut each strip across in half to measure about 10 x 25 cm.
Melt 20 g butter and brush lightly over the 12 pastry strips.
Place a rounded tbsp of the filling at one end of each strip.
Fold one corner over the filling to make a triangular shape, then keep folding over down the length of the strip to make a triangular pastry.
Brush lightly with the remaining butter, place on a baking sheet and bake for 12–15 minutes or until golden brown.

Dried fruit is naturally sweet with fructose, so no sugar is needed in this filling.
Dried fruit is also a source of nutrients including dietary fibre, iron, calcium, phosphorus and some B vitamins.
- Herbalists use ginger for its anti-sickness properties and as an aid to digestion.
It is also thought to protect against infections of the digestive and respiratory systems.

Some more ideas:
- Jamie Oliver | Member Recipes | Apple Pie with Filo Pastry
Ingredients
- 5 cooking apples (if you like the acid) or 5 granny apples (if you prefer sweet)
- 8 leaves of filo pastry
- 40g sugar
- 30g unsalted butter
- some icing sugar
This is one of the best Apple Pie that I have even ate!
The tenderness of the apples contrasting with the crunchiness of the pastry is perfect.
Moreover, in half an hour you made your dessert : so quick!

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Peel the apples and slice them.
3. Brown the apple pieces in a frying pan with the butter and sugar for 15 minutes, or until caramelized.
4. In a greased tin, stack 2 leaves of filo pastry, butter them each time, then lay the caramelized apple, then 2 other leaves of filo pastry and so on ... and finish with some filo pastry.
5. Sprinkle with some icing sugar.
6. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the top leaves got browned.


- Apple and Raisin Filo Parcels | Benecol
Apple and Raisin Filo Parcels
Serves 4

Ingredients:
- 450g (1lb) bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 75g (2¾oz) brown sugar
- 50 (1¾oz) raisins
- 8 x 15g sheets filo pastry
- 60g (2oz) Benecol® Buttery Taste Spread, melted
- 1tsp caster sugar mixed with ½tsp cinnamon
- 4 scoops bought lemon sorbet to serve (optional)

Method:

1. Place the apples, sugar and lemon zest in a pan, cover and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes until soft and pulpy. Stir in the raisins and leave to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190C/fan oven 170C. Lay out the filo sheets on a board and cut each in half to make 2 squares. Lay out 1 square and brush with melted Benecol® Buttery Taste Spread. Top with 3 more squares, brushing each with the buttery as you go.
3. Spoon in a quarter of the apple mixture and then fold or scrunch up the pastry to make a parcel. Place on a non-stick baking tray and brush all over with the buttery and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Repeat to make 4 parcels in total.
4. Bake the parcels for 25-30 minutes until golden and crisp. Serve warm with a scoop of sorbet.