Mince Pie Pinwheels - My Gorgeous Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the tradition of eating the 12 mince pies? ›

To spread the joy, it was tradition in England that each member of the family gave the mixture a stir, while making a wish. And if you wanted to be ensure good health and happiness in the upcoming year, you should eat one mince pie every day for the Twelve Days of Christmas, from Christmas Eve until the 5th of January.

One tradition says that if you eat a mince pie each day over the twelve days of Christmas it will bring you good luck in the new year! Another tradition says that the first mince pie of the season holds special powers, so be sure to make a wish with the first mince pie you eat!

Even today there are traditions associated with mince pies. When making the mincemeat mixture for the pies, for good luck it should be stirred in a clockwise direction. You should always make a wish when eating the first mince pie of the season and you should never cut one with a knife.

Mince pies have been eaten as part of a traditional British Christmas since at least the 16th century. Then they were made of a spiced, sweet minced meat mixture (often lamb), but they are now commonly made with sweet mincemeat, a mixture of dried fruits, sugar, spices, and brandy.

Go with the tradition and eat a dozen

There is a tradition of eating one mince pie each day over the 12 days of Christmas from Christmas Eve to 5 January.

According to reports, medieval people believed that if you ate a mince pie every day between Christmas and Twelfth Night, you'd be brimming with luck and happiness for the next 12 months. While there may not be any truth in the old myth, the tradition of eating mince pies every Christmas has certainly stuck.

Mince pies are best served gently warmed. They can be eaten with your hands or with a spoon if served with cream or even ice cream if you like. Store in in the fridge in an airtight container.

One superstition from the middle ages suggests that if you eat a mince pie every day from Christmas day to Twelfth Night (evening of the 5th January) you will be guaranteed happiness for the next 12 months mmmm!

Mince pies are best served warm but not hot, dusted with icing sugar and with a dollop of cream, homemade brandy butter, or a drizzle of custard on the side. So, what do drink with it? Sherry is the traditional tipple-of-choice for mince pie lovers in Britain.

Heat a pile of mincemeat in a pan with sugar, orange and lemon juice, orange peel, half a cinnamon stick and brandy, wait for it to thicken and then stir in some whipping cream.

What is the filling in mince pies called? ›

A mince pie (also mincemeat pie in North America, and fruit mince pie in Australia and New Zealand) is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat, being a mixture of fruit, spices and suet.

Going on to how one should formally eat a mince pie, she explains: 'One would pick up the mince pie with a thumb and first finger, and lift [it] away from the plate. 'The mince pie is crumbly, so make sure anything that falls from the mince pie falls onto your plate.

"Mince" is another term for chopping meat up into very small pieces, à la ground beef. However, because the English language is confusing AF, people in the UK also refer to meat as "mince." (Even though a mince pie is not a meat pie, it's the same thing as a mincemeat pie, which has no meat.

In American English, "mincemeat" is a sweet pie filling (I think it's mince pie in BrE) which originally contained some meat but in modern times it is generally made mostly of apples and raisins.

As I write this, I'm biting into a Mince Pie, a sweet pie with a filling of mincemeat, that is, finely chopped dry fruits and spices.

Many believe the idea for the mince pie originated with Middle Eastern cuisine in the 12th century, when spices and fruit were often used in savory and sweet meat dishes. Before refrigeration, spices and sugars were used for preservation to slow down spoilage.

A custom from the middle ages says that if you eat a mince pie on every day from Christmas to Twelfth Night (evening of the 5th January) you will have happiness for the next 12 months!

By the mid-17th Century, there appears to have been some connection made to Christmas, although people certainly ate mince pies at other times as well – Samuel Pepys had mince pies at a friend's anniversary party in January of 1661, where there were 18 laid out, one for each year of the marriage.

Other tarts in the same book included figs, raisins and similarly exotic fruits mixed with salmon and other meats. Mince pies (the "mince" comes from a Latin word meaning "small") soon did become a dish associated mainly with festivities, namely the celebrations of the Christmas season.