​The secrets of our award-winning mince pies

As their success in taste tests year after year shows, we take mince pies seriously here at Bettys, and all of ours are made using a bespoke mincemeat recipe that we perfected four decades ago.

Taking a rich mixture of the plumpest dried fruits – sultanas, currants, raisins and golden glacé cherries – we soak them in sherry, adding nibbed almonds, crystallised ginger and mixed spices, balanced with a citrussy zing from orange and lemon juices and extra orange oil.

Just like we do with our Christmas cakes and puddings, we then leave the mincemeat to mature for several months until the flavours are deliciously mingled. And although the days when mince pies really did used to contain minced meat – usually mutton or beef – are long past, we also make ours extra vegetarian-friendly by using only vegetable suet.

You’ll find far fewer ingredients in our pastry: it’s made with all butter for richness and texture. Simple, but just as important as the mincemeat. And to ensure they arrive on your plate with tip-top freshness, we bake new batches of pies daily at our Craft Bakery throughout the festive season.

While our classic mince pies have everything you could wish for under their golden pastry hats, we’ve enjoyed creating a couple of tempting continental twists. Our Ricciarelli mince pies are topped with swirls of the Italian soft almond biscuit, baked until it’s just crisp on the outside. And our Frangipane mince pies sport the classic almond and butter topping, baked until gently caramelised and sprinkled with almonds for added crunch.