It's pie season - pumpkin pie, mince pies - you name it, its in some kind of pie at this time of the year! This week I have baked whoopie pies - they went to the schools cake sale for the girls book club and on the weekend (yesterday), our first batch of mince pies!! These have to be the poshest mince pies - sweet shortcrust pasty, topped with a Viennese biscuit topping, so they are light, buttery and crisp and who cant resist a buttery biscuit????

Recipe:

Makes 16 large (muffin pan) or 30 small (mini muffin pan)

Pastry:

80z plain flour

4 0z butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 medium egg (beaten)

Viennese Topping

6 oz butter (softened)

1 1/2 oz icing sugar

6 oz plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Filling : 1 lb mincemeat (the sweet fruit kind - Tesco (UK) finest with Brandy and Port is fantastic)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5

To make the pastry - sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then mix in enough egg to make a firm dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about a minute until smooth. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

To make the Viennese topping: beat together the butter and the icing sugar until pale and fluffy. Sift over the flour and the baking powder and beat in. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with large star nozzle.

Roll out the pastry thinly and cut to the approximate size of the muffin hole using a cutter. Line the muffin tins with the pastry circle and divide the mincemeat between the pastry lined tins.

Pipe the Viennese topping over the mincemeat in swirls then bake for approximately 20 minutes until golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in the tins. Remove from the tins and place on a cooling rack. Serve warm or cold.

The pies will keep for up to 5 days if stored in an airtight container.