Frangipani Mince Pies

I have been making these frangipani mince pies for the last eight to ten years at Christmas. My family are always asking me to make them and they always sold well in my cafe.

They are delicious little tarts with a nice thin buttery pastry case, a dollop of mincemeat which is topped with almond frangipani. I also scatter a generous amount of flaked almond on the top of each one for a bit of crunch.

If your not keen on lots of thick pastry on a nice pie then these may be the ones for you! They not only look great but taste great too - why not try them this Christmas.

You can buy your mincemeat or why not have a go at making my homemade mincemeat recipe.

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Start by making the pastry. You can do this by hand or in a food processor. You need to rub the butter into the flour and sugar until you have fine breadcrumbs.

Then add the egg and combine using the pulse function (if using the food processor) so you do not overwork the dough. Keep pulsing until a ball of pastry starts to form. If making by hand mix in the egg and use your hands to form the dough.

The pastry then needs to be wrapped and placed in the fridge to keep cool for at least 30 minutes.

Next to make the filling put the flour, soft butter, sugar, almonds, eggs and almond extract into the bowl of a stand mixer or you can use a hand mixer. Mix until it is pale in colour.

Take the pastry out of the fridge and lightly flour the work surface and roll out the pastry and cut out 12 shapes/ rounds of pastry to fit in a deep muffin tin. I used a Wilton available on Amazon

Then put a teaspoon of mincemeat in each one.

Finally put about a tablespoon of the frangipani filling on top of the mincemeat and sprinkle with flaked almonds if required.

Then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and brush the tops with some more jam to glaze.

Leave them to cool completely in the muffin tin before removing them.

Frangipani Mince Pies

Sarah’s servings: 12

Sarah’s skill: Medium

Baking time: 15 - 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Pastry

200g Plain Flour

45g Icing Sugar

100g Cold Cubed Unsalted Butter

1 Large Egg

Filling

100g Self Raising Flour

100g Unsalted Butter (room temperature)

100g Caster Sugar

60g Ground Almonds

2 Large Eggs

1/2 tsp Almond Extract

12 tsp Mincemeat

Flaked Almonds for decoration

Apricot jam for glazing if required

Method:

1. Pastry Put the flour, sugar and butter into a food processor and pulse until you have fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively rub the butter into the flour and sugar by hand until you have fine breadcrumbs.

2. Add the egg and combine in the food processor or by hand until the pastry forms a ball.

3. Wrap in cling film or similar and transfer to fridge to keep cool for at least 30 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) or Gas Mark 4.

5. Filling Put the flour, butter, sugar, almonds, eggs and almond extract into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until it is pale in colour.

6. Cut out 12 circles of pastry to fit in a deep muffin tin.

7. Then put a teaspoon of mincemeat in each one and finally put about a tablespoon of the frangipani filling on top of the mincemeat and sprinkle with flaked almonds if required.

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

9. Brush with warmed apricot jam if required.

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Sarah's Extra Slice........

I do not blind bake my tart cases as the pastry always bakes well without needing to.

You will probably have some pastry left over and this can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for use at a later time.

You can buy mincemeat or why no have a go at making my Christmas mincemeat.

The jam brushed on the top creates a nice glaze but it’s not essential.