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SANTAS FAVOURITE FRUIT MINCE PIE RECIPE

Ingredients

Prep 1h / Cook 25m / Makes 20

Pie Filling
360g (2 cups) dried mixed fruit
200g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
50g (1/3 cup) slivered almonds, finely chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, quartered, cored, coarsely grated
40g butter, melted
2 tbsp brandy
3 tsp finely grated lemon rind
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 egg, lightly whisked
White sugar, to dust

Pastry
300g (2 cups) plain flour
70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
160g chilled butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp iced water

Method

Finely chop half the mixed fruit. Place in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, almond, apple, butter, brandy, lemon rind, lemon juice, cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg and the remaining mixed fruit. Stir until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside overnight, stirring occasionally, to macerate.

Transfer the fruit mixture to a fine sieve over a bowl and stir to remove excess liquid.

To make the pastry, place the flour, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water, and process until the mixture just starts to come together (see tip 1). Turn onto a clean work surface. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes to rest.

Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick. Use an 8.5cm-diameter round pastry cutter to cut 20 discs from the pastry. Use a 5cm-diameter star-shaped pastry cutter to cut 20 stars from the remaining pastry.

Line twenty 80ml (1/3-cup) capacity muffin pans with pastry discs (see tip 2). Divide the fruit mince among the pastry cases. Top with pastry stars. Brush the stars lightly with the egg and sprinkle with white sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden. Set aside in the pans for 5 minutes to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe notes

Tip 1: Process the pastry until it just starts to come together in large clumps. Don’t over-process or your pastry will be tough.

Tip 2: To make the pastry cases, use the balls of your fingers to press the pastry discs neatly into the edge of each pan.

Make it ahead: Make this recipe up to 4 days ahead. Store in an airtight container. Use a metal egg lifter dipped in flour to easily remove the pastry discs and pastry stars from the bench.