I have been making frangipani mince pies for a few years now and I was thinking of different toppings for them. I was thinking of shortbread then decided piping the Viennese mixture in the top would give a different texture to the mince pie.
They are delicious tarts with a nice thin buttery pastry case which not only look great but taste great too!!!
You can buy the mincemeat or why not have a go at making my Christmas 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.
To make the filling put the butter and caster sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla, icing sugar, flour and cornflour and beat until it is all combined.
The mixture needs to be able to be piped so must not be too thick. If it is too thick put some boiled water in a bowl bigger than the one of your stand mixer and place the bowl of mixture in the hot water and beat until it is thin enough to pipe. This will melt the butter slightly and makes it so much easier to pipe properly.
Cut out 12 circles 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 pipe with a Wilton 1M star nozzle on top of the mincemeat starting at the outside going into the middle until the mincemeat is covered.
Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour until the topping is hard. If you don’t do this you will loose the definition of the swirl.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade (170 fan).
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Leave them to cool completely in the muffin tin before removing them.
Viennese Mince Pies
Sarah's servings: 12
Sarah's skill: Medium
Baking time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients:
Pastry
200g Plain Flour
45g Icing Sugar
100g Cold Cubed Unsalted Butter
1 Large Egg
Filling
200g Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
100g Caster Sugar
60g Sieved icing sugar
200g Plain flour
2 Tbsp Cornflour
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
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.
Filling Put the butter and caster sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla, icing sugar, flour and cornflour and beat until it is all combined.
The mixture needs to be able to be piped so must not be too thick. If it is too thick put some boiled water in a bowl bigger than the one of your stand mixer and place the bowl of mixture in the hot water and beat until it is thin enough to pipe. This will melt the butter slightly and makes it so much easier to pipe properly.
Cut out 12 circles of pastry to fit in a deep muffin tin.
Then put a teaspoon of mincemeat in each one and finally pipe with Wilton 1M a star nozzle on top of the mincemeat starting at the outside going into the middle until the mincemeat is covered.
Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour until the topping is hard. If you don’t do this you will loose the definition of the swirl.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade (170 fan).
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Leave them to cool completely in the muffin tin before removing them.
Sarah's Extra Slice........
Makes 12 mince pies.
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.
I used a 1M piping nozzle available on Amazon