Orange and Almond Crumble Christmas Mince Pies

French Tart's Note:

Delicious little pies that combine an orange short crust pastry base with mincemeat filling and an almond crumble topping. Serve these warm with whipped cream or brandy butter. This recipe can be made in to one large pie - but I still prefer the dainty individual mini pies! I have two mincemeat recipes posted that can be used in these pies, if you are unable to source good quality commercial mincemeat locally. Traditional British Mincemeat for Christmas Mince Pies! or Traditional British Boozy Mincemeat - Fat Free. Don't forget to leave a couple out for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve!

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 24 Mini Mi ...

Pastry

• 100 g butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 175 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 orange, zest of, finely grated

Filling

• 250 g good quality mincemeat, preferably home-made

Crumble Topping

• 50 g cold butter
• 50 g plain flour
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons almonds, finely chopped
• icing sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Make the pastry in a large bowl or food processor by blending the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the sugar and orange zest and then 2 tbsp water.
3. Bring the mixture together with your hands, adding a few more drops of water if it feels a little dry.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C/375F/gas 4.
5. Roll out half the pastry (keep the other half wrapped in the fridge) on a lightly floured surface. You want the pastry to be very thin, so it is crisp when cooked.
6. Cut out 12 circles of pastry with a plain 6cm cutter (you will need to re-roll the pastry a couple of times) and use to line a 12-hole, non-stick cup cake or mini muffin tin.
7. (It is quite a soft pastry, so any little gaps that form as you are lining the holes can easily be patched up.).
8. Chill while you make the topping.
9. In a small bowl, make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and almonds.
10. With a teaspoon, fill each pastry case with mincemeat, gently pressing it down to leave room for the topping.
11. Sprinkle the topping over each pie, place the tin on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden.
12. Leave the pies to cool in the tin before taking them out carefully. They are fragile when hot, so use a small knife to help lift them out.
13. Unless you have two tins, repeat the process with the second batch of pastry, filling and topping.
14. Eat the mini mince pies warm or cold, lightly dusted with icing sugar and served with whipped cream or brandy butter.

Reviews

[djmastermum]

I take my hat off to anyone who can make pastry, because I can't, but guess what I attempted this pastry and ... I DID IT. The result were such a delicate pasty that seemed to just melt in my mouth, but it isn't about just the pastry is it, it's about the Orange and Almond Crumble Christmas Mince Pies. I used mince from a jar (good quality) and these pies turned out great. I will be posting a pic soon. Don't mind the vulture hanging around in the pic, he was just waiting for his pie!

[Summer Hill]

Once again this was FANTASTIC! I made it last night for tea. I used your Mincemeat (which I made a few months ago to age properly) and WOW!!! I'm SO glad I didn't cheat and buy the "Mr. Kippling" Mince Tarts the other day now!

[Sydney Mike]

Since I still had a bit of your Traditional British Mincemeat for Christmas Mince Pies! that I'd made last April, I decided to make this as well (one of a handful of your recipes that I have in my 'To-Make' file!) & am so glad I did! We really enjoyed these & my other half took a handful of them to share at work (Should have taken the whole batch, I understand!) & copies of the recipe as well! Will be making these to add to my holiday gift baskets! [Tagged, made & reviewed as part of my Mincemeat theme in My-3-Chefs]