James Tanner's sweet mincemeat medley

Monday 7 December at 4:04pm

It wouldn't be Christmas without the humble mince pie, so James Tanner is jazzing up a classic and showing us a variety of ways to make them.

Fruit ‘n’ Nut Mince Pies: Makes 12

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

225g cold butter, cubed

350g plain flour

100g icing sugar

1 tbsp cold water

For the Mincemeat:

400g jar mincemeat

100g frozen or fresh cranberries

1 apple or pear, peeled and grated

Zest 1 orange

Handful of flaked almonds

80ml brandy, whisky or Cointreau (optional)

Method:

For the filling:

Mix cranberries, apple or pear, orange zest, almonds and spirit (if using) into mincemeat ready to fill your pies

For the pastry:

In a food processor or large bowl rub the cold butter with the flour to a crumb stage, add the icing sugar and water and knead or pulse to form a dough. Form into a ball, wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and flour a worktop. Roll the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use a small round cutter to cut appropriate size discs that fit your non stick bun tray. Use to line the tray, pressing in gently to fit, fill each with mincemeat, leaving a little gap at the top of each pie case.
Cut lids to fit the top of each and tuck down around the edge of pies. Prick a small hole in the top of each pie and bake in a preheated oven at 200C/gas 6 for 12-15 minutes until golden.
Remove and cool in the tin , loosen the pies with a twist so they do not stick when cooling down

Meringue topped Mince pies: Makes 20

Use the pastry recipe to line your pie tins. There is no pastry lid in this recipe so use two tins to use the pastry up or freeze the excess. Fill with your jazzed up mincemeat mixture and bake in the oven at 170C/gas 3 for 18/20 mins. Remove and cool.

For the meringue:

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites

100g caster sugar

Small handful broken up ginger nut biscuits

Method:

Whisk the egg whites to a soft peak using a mixer. Add the sugar a little at a time, beat on full power for 5 minutes to create a glossy meringue.
Spoon into a piping bag with a plain nozzle and pipe swirls or blobs on top of mince pies. Lightly toast the the tops of meringue with a blowtorch to add a little colour and sprinkle over crushed gingernut crumbs.

Christmas Mincemeat Tart: Serves 8

A taste of Christmas topped with almond frangipane and water ice frosting

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

125g ground almonds

3 free range eggs

2 tbsp rum

½ of 411g jar of mincemeat

1 sweet pastry case (25cm, round)

1 tsp water, for icing

3 tbsp icing sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ gas mark 4
In a food mixer cream together the butter and sugar, add the ground almonds, eggs and rum. Place the mixture in a piping bag without a nozzle.
Spread the mincemeat over the base of the sweet pastry case and then pipe the almond mixture over the mincemeat starting in the middle and spiralling out to the edge
Place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until golden, then cool on a wire rack
Add water to icing sugar and mix well. Drizzle decoratively over the tart. Leave to set.
Cut into slices and serve with warm brandy custard

Mincemeat Apple Samosas: Makes 6

Ingredients:

300g mincemeat

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

12 filo pastry sheets (about 30cmX18cm)

Vanilla ice cream or custard to serve

Method:

Mix the mincemeat in a small bowl with the diced apple.

Fold each filo pastry sheet in half lengthways, spoon two tablespoons of mincemeat mix at one end of the filo. To form a triangle fold the pastry over the mincemeat mixture and keep folding over the length of the filo to make a neat triangular samosa.

Use a little water to stick pastry together. Repeat process with the other sheets of filo pastry

Bake on a lined baking sheet for 8 -10 minutes (turning over halfway through cooking) until crisp and golden. Remove and leave to cool slightly and dust with icing sugar.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream if liked.