Serving size: Serves 10 or more
Cooking time: More than 2 hours
Course: Dessert

christmas fruit mince pies

INGREDIENTS

Filling
3 granny smith apples
250g seedless raisins, chopped
250g sultanas
250g currants
125g glacé or dried apricots, chopped finely
125g mixed peel or glacé orange slices, chopped finely
100g dried figs, chopped finely
100g slivered almonds, chopped
Finely grated rind and juice of 3 oranges
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
200g brown sugar
2 tbsp honey or golden syrup
2 tsp ground cinnamon
150g butter, melted
100ml orange liqueur, brandy or dark rum
Pastry
170g plain flour
½ cup icing sugar
2 tbsp ground almonds
100g chilled butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp chilled water
Icing sugar, to dust tarts

METHOD

Step 1 Make filling Peel and coarsely grate apples. Combine with rest of filling ingredients and mix well. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.

Step 2 Make pastry Whiz flour, icing sugar, ground almonds and butter in food processor until well combined and mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and chilled water and, using pulse button, process until mixture starts to come together.

Step 3 Bring pastry together with hands and shape into a disc. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 4 Assemble tarts Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Roll out pastry thinly, cut out rounds and place in tart trays. Cut out some pastry shapes to decorate. You can use star or snowflake cutters
to make it festive. Spoon in some fruit mince filling and place a pastry shape on top. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes – pastry should be golden.

Step 5 Cool on cake racks. Dust with sifted icing sugar before serving.

GIFT IDEA Spoon leftover fruit mince into sterilised jars, seal, decorate with ribbon and attach the fruit mince recipe, printed on card. The fruit mince can store in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Also check out...
Christmas turkey with lemongrass stuffing
Asian crab salad with coconut and lime dressing
Mixed beans with sesame dressing
Honey roasted carrots
Roasted Kipfler potatoes
Christmas pudding ice cream with persian fairy floss and poached cherries