MINCE PIE CAKE

Criss-cross double thickness strips of foil across a 25cm pie dish to allow you to lift the pie out; lightly brush the dish with melted butter

To make the pastry – put the flour and butter, cut in pieces in a food processor, blitz until the mixture resembles fine crumbs; add sugar, beaten egg, egg yolk and water and bind to a soft but firm dough; cut off a quarter of this pastry for the mini mince pies, wrap and chill until needed; roll out the rest and line the pie dish with it; prick the base with a fork

To make the cake – preheat the oven to 180C/Gas4; put all the ingredients, except the mincemeat and dried fruit into a bowl and beat together until well mixed; stir in the mincemeat and dried fruit; spoon into the pastry lined dish and smooth the top; place on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes; reduce the heat to 160C/Gas 3, cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper and bake for a further 45 minutes to 1 hour or until firm and a skewer comes out clean

To make the mince pies – increase the oven temperature to 200C/Gas6; roll out the rest of the pastry and cut out discs to line a 12-hole mini muffin tin; spoon a teaspoonful of mincemeat into each pie, then bake for about 10 minutes

To assemble – mix 90g icing sugar with a little water to make a thick icing; pipe a trellis over the cake and leave to set; place mini pies round the edge securing with icing and insert a candle in each mince pie.