Mini Mincemeat Tarts Recipe
Homemade fruity mincemeat is encased in a gorgeous almond pastry in our gluten free mince pie recipe – perfect for nibbling throughout the festive season!
(Don’t forget to leave a couple out for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve-)
Suitable for: gluten free
Makes: 18 – 20 small tarts
Ingredients
For the mincemeat (alternatively use approx. 400g of a shop bought luxury mincemeat) :
150g / 5 ½ oz raisins
125g / 4 ½ oz dried apricots (chopped)
40g / 1 ½ oz mixed peel
50g / 1 ¾ oz dried dates (chopped)
50g / 1 ¾ oz dried figs (chopped)
100g / 3 ½ oz gluten free vegetarian suet
100g / 3 ½ oz apples, peeled cored and cubed (both cooking and eating varieties will be fine)
Zest and juice of one lemon
Zest and juice of one orange
100g / 3 ½ oz ground almonds
200mls brandy
For the almond pastry:
140g / 5 oz brown rice flour
140g / 5 oz gluten free oat flour
100g / 3 ½ oz caster sugar
85g / 3 oz butter
50g / 1 ¾ oz ground almond
50g / 1 ¾ oz gluten free vegetarian suet
Pinch salt
2 egg yolks
3-4 tbsp whole milk (plus extra, if needed)
For the topping:
100g / 3 ½ oz flaked almonds
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp whole milk
Method
If making your own mincemeat (and are very organised), you can make the mincemeat ahead of time – it will keep for months and the longer it’s made the better the flavours will be. Throw all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix well, before storing in a sterilised, airtight jar in a cool dark place.
To make the pastry pop all of the ingredients except for the egg yolks and milk into a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and then slowly pour in the yolks and milk, mixing slowly until a soft dough is formed.
Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for half an hour. Don’t be tempted to skip this step – it makes the pastry easier to handle and will help to prevent shrinkage during cooking. Whilst the pastry chills, grease a 12 portion bun tin with melted butter. Do this thoroughly in and around each indentation to prevent sticking.
Roll out just over half of the pastry between two sheets of lightly floured baking parchment to approx 3mm thickness. Use a round cutter to stamp out the bottoms and pop them into the tin – the pastry is very delicate, so you may need to use a palette knife to lift the discs off the paper.
If the pastry breaks, squidge it back together with your fingers.
Pop a generous spoonful of the mincemeat into the cases and press down slightly.
Repeat the rolling out of the rest of the pastry, using a slightly smaller cutter.
Brush the edges of the filled cases with milk, pop the lids on and crimp the edges to seal. Make a small hole in the top and then brush with milk and sprinkle with flaked almonds.
Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C/325°F/Gas 3 for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Sprinkle with caster sugar whilst still warm, and enjoy.
