Mincepies are the ultimate traditional sweet treat during Christmas.
This tart recipe creates a giant version of the classic vegan mince pie and makes the perfect table centrepiece for friends and family to enjoy. Not only does it look impressive, but it is full of festive flavours.
The homemade pastry is filled with a warm, spiced fruit mincemeat made using raisins, currents, cranberries, cherries and with a hint of orange and lemon. The stem ginger and spices give the mincemeat it’s classic winter-warming taste that goes so well with the sweet fruit.
No pastry is wasted in this recipe – use any leftovers from the tart base to decorate with pastry stars and dust it with icing sugar for a decorative finish.
Vegan Mincepie Tart Recipe
Ingredients
For the mincemeat:
- 750g cooking apples
- 125g light muscovado sugar
- 50ml medium dry cider
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Generous grating of nutmeg
- Pinch of cloves
- 50g sultanas
- 50g raisins
- 50 g currants
- 50g dried cranberries
- 50g glace cherries, roughly chopped
- 25g stem ginger, roughly chopped plus 1 tbsp of syrup
- 50g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
- 50g pecans, roughly chopped
- zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
- Zest and juice of 1 orange
- 4 tablespoons whisky or sherry
For the pastry:
- 190g plain white flour
- 110g ground almonds
- 150g golden caster sugar
- ½ tsp of salt
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- Zest of 1 orange
- 110ml of extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tbsp
- 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar
- 3-4 tbsp of ice water
- 2 tbsp demerara sugar
- 2 tbsp icing sugar (garnish)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. To make the mincemeat, first peel and roughly chop the apples into slices. Combine the sugar and cider in a large saucepan, place over a medium heat and bring to the boil.
- Add all the other ingredients except the whiskey to the pan and stir well. Cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the whiskey. The mincemeat stage is complete, however if it is not being used immediately, it can be stored in airtight jars.
- To make the pastry, mix the flour, ground almonds, sugar and orange zest together in a bowl. Add the olive oil and apple cider vinegar, then add the iced water. The amount of water added can be reduced if the pastry mix is already very moist. Mix together until the pastry binds together.
- Wrap the pastry tightly in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- To build the mincemeat tart, prepare a clean work surface with a light dusting of flour. Roll out the pastry to approximately ½ cm thickness. Line a greased tart dish with the rolled pastry and save any spare to cut into stars for decoration. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Once chilled, line the tart shell with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Add half of the mincemeat filling to the tart and decorate with the leftover pastry stars. Brush the stars with a little olive oil and demerara sugar. Return to the oven and bake for a final 25-30 minutes. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar.
Enjoy!
