Mum’s mince pies INGREDIENTS METHOD

MAKES 24 400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 200g butter 100g lard Grated zest and juice of 1 orange Approx 400g mincemeat Milk, for brushing Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and have a mince pie tray (or two) ready. Sift the flour with a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Dice the butter and lard into small pieces and rub this into the flour using your fingertips, until the mixtures forms a texture like breadcrumbs.

Add the orange zest and half of the juice, and mix until the dough just combines. Add a bit more orange juice, if needed, to allow this to happen.

Shape the dough into a ball and wrap in cling film. Allow to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.

When chilled, roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thick. Use a 7cm round cutter to stamp out 24 circles and use them to line the holes of the trays.

Fill each one with a generous teaspoon of mincemeat, being careful not to overfill them.

Gather and reroll the pastry to stamp out more circles with a 6cm cutter to make lids, put them on top, and use the tines of a fork to seal the pastry edges together.

Brush each pie lightly with milk to glaze, and pierce the tops with a sharp knife.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the pies have turned golden brown. Sprinkle with icing sugar after taking them out of the oven.

LIDL HORTUS PLUM & CINNAMON GIN LIQUEUR £11.99/70CL; 20% ABV

“This smells like pick and mix sweets. It would be nice with Sicilian lemonade, but you could drink it on its own. For gin sceptics it’s ideal because it’s light, and the sweetness balances the gin aromatics.”

7/10 ABLEFORTH’S BATHTUB SLOE GIN £25.95/50CL; 33.8%, OCADO

“This tastes fruity, but it’s not too sweet. Some sloe gins can be too gloopy and sugary but this one still has the tartness from the sloe berries. It’s one that I would use if I were making cocktails with sloe berries.”

7/10