Mini Mince pies #sugarfree

It’s a new modern version of mince pies: sugar and flour free ! Adulterated from Hemsley and Hemsley.
“We make use of the natural sweetness of dried fruits, fresh apple, orange and lemon in our mincemeat, no need for even a drop of honey. Our other twist is a bit of coconut – coconut oil in the mincemeat keeps it moist and we like to finish the pies with a dusting of coconut sugar”.
Don’t be put off by the length of ingredients, all you do is make the pastry in the whizzer and then cook up the mincemeat. Assemble. Done

You need to make about 24
For the Almond Pastry
200g ground almonds
¼ tsp of sea salt
¼ tsp of bicarbonate of soda
¾ tbsp of maple syrup
15g butter, room temperature
1 medium egg
For the Mincemeat
2 apples (approx. 150g) finely chopped (no need to peel)
40g raisins
40g sultanas
40g currants
40g goji berries
Zest and juice of ½ orange
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp of ground mixed spice
½ tsp of ground cinnamon
2½ tbsp of brandy
1 pinch of grated nutmeg
25g of coconut oil (or butter)
small pinch of sea salt
Tip : You can substitute 160g of mixed fruit for the raisins, sultanas, currants and goji berries if you don’t have the individual ingredients

For the Pastry:
• Pour a champagne
• Throw on white Roksanda party dress
• Preheat the oven to Fan 170°C
• Line a cake tray with mini cupcake cases.
• In a bowl or food processor, mix together the pastry ingredients until they form a dough.
• You might need to add a touch more ground almonds to bring it to a pastry dough texture.
• Cut into 3 pieces and chill in the fridge while you make your mincemeat (see method below).
• Working with one third of the chilled dough at a time, roll between 2 pieces of greaseproof paper until a few millimetres thick.
• Use a pastry cutter that fits the diameter of your cupcake cases (we used petit-four cupcake cases and a 6cm cutter) to cut several discs of pastry.
• Flatten out the cupcake cases, place a disc in the centre of each one, aligning the edges. Gently mould the disc to fit the case and then press the whole thing into a mini muffin tray.
• Gather the scraps and re-roll the pastry – you should be able to make at least 24 discs from two thirds of the mixture. Keep the remaining third for the star shapes.
• Bake the tart bases in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes – no need to use baking beans!
• For the Mincemeat:
• Finely chop the apples so that they are the same size as the raisins.
• Place all the mincemeat ingredients into a large saucepan and cook on a medium heat, lid on, for about 15 minutes until the apples are soft. Stir every now and then to
prevent sticking. Towards the end of cooking lift the lid and allow any extra liquid to evaporate on a low heat.

To Finish:
• Fill each pastry shell with 1 heaped teaspoon of mincemeat.
• Cut stars from the remaining dough and gently place on top of each pie.
• Brush the tops with melted butter or an egg yolk wash, sprinkle with a little coconut sugar and bake for approximately 10 minutes until lightly golden.
• Cool the tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes and then ease the tarts out onto the rack to cool further – they will crisp up as they cool.

Note: If you don’t have a star shaped pastry cutter, use a glass or cup – and if you run out of dough then sprinkle the tops with flaked almonds