I can't describe how much nicer these are than shop-bought mince pies. The pastry is almost like shortbread, none of that doughy horrible stuff. If you can't be bothered to make your own mincemeat, just use a really good quality shop-bought one. The one I use here has no beef suet, so it suitable for vegetarians. A quick tip for forming the cases: I find that if I mould them straight into the tin, it's quite tricky to remove them once cooked, so I line the tin with clingfilm, make the cases then pull up the film to remove the cases and pop them back in the holes.