The epitome of Christmas time, the humble mince pie! But they aren’t always everyone’s cup of tea, due to their sometimes overpowering filling. Helen of IDEAS has come up with a recipe that takes the edge of the often overfilled mince pie. Beautiful mincemeat, encased in homemade butter pastry with a sponge top to balance the pie. Perfect with a cup of tea after a festive day of fun!
For the pastry: (You could also buy a block of shortcrust pastry)
4oz Butter
8oz Plain Flour
6oz Soft Brown Sugar
A pinch of salt
A tiny bit of water!
For the cake topping:
6oz Butter
6oz Soft brown sugar
8oz Plain Flour
3 Eggs
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp of milk
1tsp Vanilla paste
For the mincemeat filling:
1 jar of good quality mincemeat
2oz Butter
A good glug of maple syrup
Method
To make the pastry rub together butter, sugar, flour and salt until fine breadcrumbs are formed. Slowly add in water to bind the mixture together until a ‘ball’ is formed. Leave the pastry to rest whilst the filling is made.
For the mincemeat mix, combine all the mincemeat filling ingredients into a pan and put over a medium head until butter has fully melted and the mixture has started to turn silky. Take of the heat and allow to cool.
Set the oven to 160°
To make the sponge topping, cream the butter & sugar together until light and fluffy. Using a spatula gently fold in one at a time the eggs with a spoonful of flour and the baking powder until all are mixed in. The mix may feel a little thick at this point so add in a little of the milk at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
Grease 2 x 12 case cupcake tins.
Roll out the pastry until around 1cm thick and using a round 9/10cm cookie cutter make 24 cookie rounds. Pop each pastry round into the tin and spoon a teaspoon of the mincemeat mixture into each pastry case (leaving enough room on top for the sponge!) Top each mincepie with a teaspoon of cake mixture.
Pop each tin into the preheated oven for 20mins or until the cake mixture is looking golden brown and springs back when touched.
Enjoy with a cup of tea or a glass of mulled wine!
