Christmas is not complete without these festive and fruity mince pies
One of our favourite Christmas desserts that are often seen on the dessert table is mince pies. This recipe is tweaked and adapted from the traditional British recipe. It is a rich, sticky and sweet filling wrapped in a light pastry. Most mince pie recipes contain gluten but this special recipe is adapted to be gluten-free. These sweet mince pies are meat-free and filled with a mixture of dried fruits, sugar, spices, almonds, and Moscato giving the pastry extra flavour and texture.
We baked our mince pies using the Mastercraft CrustyBake 12cup Shallow Baking Pan. The steel pan features perforated holes for crusty and crispy results and ensures an even baking process. Pair your mince pies with red wine to complement the sweet and nutty notes of your dessert.
Ingredients:
- 1 2/3 cups (250g) gluten Free flour, extra for crumble
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/3 cup (55g) icing sugar, extra to dust
- 170g butter, chilled and chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 egg white
- 1 granny smith or red delicious apple
- 1/4 cup (35g) cranberries
- 2 tbs mixed peel
- 1/4 cup (40g) almonds, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup (40g) mixed dried fruit
- 1/4 cup (35g) raisins
- 1/4 cup (55g) brown sugar, extra for crumble
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Moscato
- 1 orange
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 180°
- Place flour, xanthan gum, icing sugar, butter and half the cinnamon into a food processor. Pulse until the mixture has turned into a fine crumb. Add egg white and continue to pulse until combined.
- Remove from blender and mould into a flat disk. Wrap in cling film and chill for 45 minutes.
- Peel the apple and using an apple corer to remove cores. Chop roughly into .5cm - 1cm cubes and transfer into medium-sized saucepan adding cranberries, mixed peel, almonds, dried fruit, raisins, brown sugar, mixed spice, ginger, Moscato and remaining cinnamon. Use a grater or zester to zest the orange over the mixture. Set over medium heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally to combine until slightly thickened. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the pastry out between two pieces of baking paper to 4mm thick. Using a 6cm diameter cookie cutter, cut 12 rounds and mould into MasterCraft Crusty Bake 12 cup shallow baking pan. Prick each case with a fork and bake for 8 minutes.
- Place pastry offcuts into a small mixing bowl, add 1 tablespoon each of brown sugar and flour. Crumb with hands and set aside.
- Remove cases from the oven and spoon the fruit mixture into each pastry casing. Top with pastry crumbs and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool and dust with icing sugar. Serve.
