Frangipane Mince Pies
A succulent frangipane topping makes these generous mince pies a cut above a regular pastry topped pie. Although you may be tempted to make them in a smaller bun tray – I like them muffin sized, with a generous amount of tender frangipane on top. Don’t leave them out for Santa, or he may be too satisfied and happy to get back up the chimney. There are two frangipane recipes below, one of which is gluten, egg and dairy free. Recipe by Naomi Devlin TO SEE MORE OF NAOMI'S RECIPE SEE THE FREE FROM CHRISTMAS RECIPE SECTION
Servings 12
Ingredients
CRUST & FILLING
Double quantity of shortcrust pastry (about 400g)
400g gluten free mincemeat
FRANGIPANE
100g softened butter
100g light muscovado sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp brandy
2 eggs
100g ground almonds
40g potato starch
1 heaped tsp gluten free baking powder
FRANGIPANE - GLUTEN, EGG & DAIRY FREE
25g ground golden linseed
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g coconut oil or olive oil
100g light muscovado sugar
100g ground almonds
50g potato starch
1 tsp ground psyllium husk
2 tsp baking powder
Method
First butter the holes of the muffin tray generously. Cut discs of baking parchment to fit the bottom of each hole of your muffin tray. This step might seem fiddly, but I think it’s worth it to tip them out without a fuss.
Roll pastry between sheets of parchment to about 2-3mm thick. Cut circles to fit the holes of a muffin tray using a plain 10cm diameter cutter. Carefully remove the circles from the parchment (chill the rolled out pastry for 10-15 minutes if you find it too soft to work with) and gently press pastry circles into the muffin tray. Press the pastry up the sides of the tray a little, patch any holes and prick bases with a fork. The pastry should come almost to the top of the muffin holes. Chill for 20 minutes or until firm again.
Preheat the oven to 160ºC fan/180ºC non fan.
To make the frangipane topping, put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat until light, smooth and fluffy.
Place a heaped teaspoonful of mincemeat into each pastry case, but don’t get carried away, or your frangipane will overflow the cases. Spoon frangipane over the mincemeat and bake for 25-30 minutes until the frangipane is risen and firm to the touch. A skewer should come out clean.
Cool completely in the tin. To loosen, run a thin, sharp knife around the outside of each one to make sure they are loose. Place a cooling rack over the top of the tray and invert, so that the mince pies fall out onto the cooling rack. Turn the pies right way up and give them a festive dusting of icing sugar if you like.
They will keep for several days in an airtight tin, or you can freeze them for up to a month and just crisp up again in the oven at 160ºC for 5-10 minutes once they have defrosted.
Or try this alternative:
FRANGIPANE - GLUTEN, EGG & DAIRY FREE
Enough for an 8”/20cm tart
This frangipane is definitely more dense than one made with eggs and needs more cooking, but the crust becomes moreishly chewy and the centre is wonderfully moist.
25g ground golden linseed
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g coconut oil or olive oil
100g light muscovado sugar
100g ground almonds
50g potato starch
1 tsp ground psyllium husk
2 tsp baking powder
Mix together ground linseed, lemon juice and vanilla with 120g water and set aside for a few minutes to form a gel.
Beat coconut oil and sugar together briefly – the coconut oil must be at room temperature.
Sift ground almonds, potato starch, psyllium and baking powder into the bowl and beat well until lighter in colour, smooth and fluffy.
Use straight away as per your recipe. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 160ºC until firm and a skewer comes clean.
Serving suggestions
You could try using Naomi's quincemeat as an alternative filling - find the recipe in the Christmas recipe section.