I made mini mince pies for my sister for a new shop opening a few years ago at Christmas. They are now a firm family favourite as they are just a nice mouthful with a cuppa and not too much pastry.
I decided to change them up a bit this year as I had made a batch of my Nutty Mincemeat and thought it would go well with marzipan. It makes a lovely topping which is crispy on the outside.
They are delicious little mince pies and make great gifts when wrapped up in little bags!
You can buy your mincemeat or why not try making my Nutty Mincemeat this year.
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.
Put the marzipan in the fridge too as it will be easier to grate later.
Take the pastry out of the fridge and lightly flour the work surface and roll out the pastry and cut out 5cm rounds of pastry to fit in the tin. If you have a pastry tamper it is much easier to get the pastry into the individual sections.
Then put half a teaspoon of mincemeat in each one.
Take the marzipan out of the fridge and grate.
Finally sprinkle equally on the top of each mince pie.
Then bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
Leave them to cool completely in the muffin tin before removing them.
Sarah's Nutty Marzipan Mini Mince Pies
Sarah's servings: 24
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
100g Grated marzipan
12 tsp Mincemeat
Method:
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.
Add the egg and combine in the food processor or by hand until the pastry forms a ball.
Wrap in cling film or similar and transfer to fridge to keep cool for at least 30 minutes.
Put the marzipan in the fridge too as it will be easier to grate later.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) or Gas Mark 4.
Cut out 24 circles of pastry with a 5cm round cutter to fit in a the tin.
Place the circles into a 24 hole mini muffin tin - using a pastry tamper makes this much easier.
Then put half a teaspoon of mincemeat in each one.
Take the marzipan out of the fridge and grate. Finally sprinkle equally on the top of each mince pie.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Leave to cool completely in the tin before trying to remove them.
Sarah's Extra Slice........
I do not blind bake my tart cases as the pastry always bakes well without needing to.
A pastry tamper makes it much easier to get the pastry into the individual sections (see below).
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.