Freezing Pastry Dough For Mince Pies

Our answer

Nigella's Star-Topped Mince Pies (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) uses a home-made shortcrust pastry. The pastry contains a combination of butter and vegetable shortening, as this gives a light and flaky pastry.

It is possible to freeze the pastry dough. Once you have formed the dough into discs, wrap each of the discs tightly in a double layer of food wrap and seal the wrapped discs in an airtight container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost the dough overnight in the fridge before using. As the dough will be quite cold once it has thawed, we suggest removing it from the fridge 15-20 minutes (depending on how warm your kitchen is) before you want to roll it out, so that it softens very slightly. If you try to roll the dough when it is very cold then it will crack as you try to roll it. The dough needs to be cold but pliable.