Ooh I’m rushing in quick (and just in the nick of time), to share with you this rather fabulous festive recipe for delicious gluten free frangipane topped mince pies.
These mince pies are a lovely thing to make. And they fill the kitchen with the most gorgeous smell as they bake. So go on, pop on a few festive tunes and bake yourself happy!
Ingredients (makes 24)
For the pastry
200g (7oz) gluten free plain flour or mix
100g (3½ oz) hard butter (or margarine) cubed
1 large beaten egg
Add a pinch of salt to the flour if using unsalted butter
Enough cold water to bring the pastry together
For the frangipane topping
1 jar *mincemeat
200g (7oz) butter (leave out for a while to soften)
200g (7oz) caster sugar
200g (7oz) *ground almonds
4 large beaten eggs
1 teaspoon *vanilla extract
To finish
A small amount of icing sugar to dust over the mince pies
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5/Fan 170C.
Lightly grease 2 x 12 hole muffin trays.
In a large bowl rub together the gluten free flour/mix and butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Leaving the butter quite chunky at this stage, will allow you to get enough water into the mix later. And the butter will blend in perfectly when you knead the pastry.
Stir in the beaten egg and then add enough water to bring the pastry together. If you don’t add enough water, you will find the pastry difficult to work with. if you add a bit too much, don’t worry as you can ‘bring it back’ by adding a little extra gluten free flour.
Form the pastry into a ball and transfer onto a surface dusted with gluten free flour. Knead it for a couple of minutes until the pastry becomes nice and smooth. This will make the pastry much easier to handle later.
I would suggest that you cut the pastry in half before you start to roll it out it’s so much easier to deal with in smaller quantities. Keep dusting your worksurface and rolling pin with gf flour to ensure the pastry doesn’t stick.
Once you have rolled out the pastry nice and thinly, take a large round cutter (approximately 3½ inch) and cut out the pastry circles. Using a palette knife, transfer the pastry circles into the muffin tin cases and gently ease them into the mould. Gather any bits of pastry up and re-roll them out.
Fill each pastry case with a teaspoon of mince mincemeat.
In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence (ideally using an electric mixer) until the mixture becomes light and creamy.
Gradually add the beaten egg to the mixture. Continues to whisk until the mixture is nice and smooth.
Finally add the ground almonds and mix well with a large spoon.
Grab 2 dessert spoons and top each mince pie with a generous spoonful of the frangipane mixture.
Pop in the oven and bake for around 25 minutes until they are golden brown and firm to touch.
Once baked, remove the pies from the oven and leave to cool for about 20 minutes, before gently removing them from the tin (I find a desert spoon perfect for this job). Transfer them onto a cooling tray or large plate and leave to go completely cold before dusting with icing sugar.
I personally feel these mince pies are at the best when they are freshly baked. However they will freeze really well too and can be reheated and enjoyed as and when you wish.
A few extra suggestions
I was delighted with how these frangipane mince pies turned out. Of course, you can always replace the mincemeat with a jam of your choice and turn these little tarts into cherry bakewell’s for example. On this occasion I actually only made 12 mince pies and used the remaining pastry and frangipane filling to make a quick almond tart; I lined a flan base with pastry, spread a spoonful of raspberry jam over the bottom and topped with the remaining frangipane and scattered over a few flaked almonds before baking (took about 30-40 mins, oven temp 180C/350F/Gas 4/160C Fan). Once the tart was cool I drizzled over a little glace icing (icing sugar blended to a smooth paste with a touch of boiled water).
I had so many plans of other things I wanted to share with you before Christmas but unfortunately, I blinked, and time just got the better of me. However, as the recipes that I tend to share with you are classics, there may be something else here that you fancy rustling up over Christmas.
Hope your Christmas is all you want it to be.
For now
Liz x
P.S. If you are finding making gluten free pastry a little difficult, my quick pastry making video may just help. I’m getting great feedback from people that have checked it out.
*Check this product out to ensure no gluten containing ingredients or ‘may contain’ or ‘not suitable’ warnings on the pack. If in doubt leave it out.
