Makes 12

Traditional Shortcrust Pastry as my mother made it:

• 4 oz/100g plain flour
• ¼ level teaspoon fine sea-salt
• 1 oz/25g lard
• 1 oz/25g unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon of cold water

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and lard and ‘rub in’ until you have something approaching fine breadcrumbs. Keep it all light.

Sprinkle the water over and mix the dough with a round bladed knife until it starts to form lumps. Bring together to form a ball. Lightly knead until it is smooth and flatten into a disc. Chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Roll out thinly and cut out twelve 8cm circles and press into a greased 12-hole pie tin. Into the centre of each hole, place 1 heaped teaspoon of mincemeat.

Viennese Topping:

• 100g/4oz soft butter
• 75g/3oz plain flour
• 25g/1oz cornflour
• 25g/1oz icing sugar
• half a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Place all the ingredients for the topping in the bowl of a food processor and whiz together until you have a smooth mixture. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Pipe around the edges.

Bake at 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5 for 20-25 minutes. In an Aga, cook on the floor of the Roasting Oven for 20 minutes.

Once golden, transfer to a cooling rack. Dust with icing sugar.

Eat.