This Christmas, Kasha Connolly, the host of Food For Stories, invites you to her kitchen on Ireland’s stunning Wild Atlantic Way to share a recipe close to her heart, Homemade Mince Pies with a Crumble Topping (a gluten-free alternative is also available!) These festive favourites are a blend of sweet, spiced fruit filling wrapped in buttery short-crust pastry and topped with a delectable almond crumble.
Whether you’re a seasoned baker or trying your hand at Christmas baking for the first time, this episode will inspire you to bring the spirit of the season into your home.
Baking Tips from Kasha:
- Don’t skimp on the zest and spices as they add that magical festive flavour.
- Roll your pastry thin for the perfect crust-to-filling ratio.
- Use rum or brandy in the mincemeat for an authentic Christmas kick.
Festive Fruit Mince Pies with Crumble
Ingredients
Fruit Mincemeat (make half a batch for a 30 cm x 20 cm baking tray)
- 450 g unsalted butter
- 450 g apples peeled, cored and chopped
- 450 g apples peeled, cored and grated
- 400 g orange candied peel
- 400 g finely chopped prunes
- 450 g raisins
- 300 g finely chopped dates
- 600 g light soft brown sugar
- 5 tspn cinnamon
- 1 tspn ground cloves
- 1 tspn ground nutmeg
- 2/3 tspn ginger
- 4 oranges to grate, zest and juice
- 4 lemons to grate, zest and juice
- 100 g crushed toasted almond flakes
- 250 ml rum (optional)
- 250 ml brandy (optional)
Pastry
- 230 g plain flour (to make the pastry gluten free, replace 230g of plain flour with 160g rice flour, 70g cornstarch and 1/2 tsp of xantam gum.)
- 80 g ground almond
- 50 g caster sugar
- 125 g cubed cold butter
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsps sour cream ( not heaped )
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 3 egg yolks
Crumble
- 1/3 dough from pastry mixture (set aside)
- 80 g toasted almond flakes
- 80 g ground almond
- 40 g demerara sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Grease 12 hole muffin tin with a little butter, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
- Using the paddle attachment mix flour, ground almond sugar, butter, baking powder together until it resembles bread crumbs
- In a separate bowl roughly mix together egg yokes, oil and sour cream
- Add egg mix to the flour mix and combine until it just comes together. Do not over knead to prevent butter from melting
- Take 1/3 of the dough and set it aside
- Cut the pastry into 3 parts, dust your surface with flour and gently roll one part to about 0,5 cm think. With a cookie cutter, cut out discs that are slightly bigger than your muffin case holes.
- Gently push pastry discs into the tin, top up with 1 tsp of mince meat and cover generously with crumble.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Wait at least 20 minutes before removing pies from the tin. Dust with icing sugar.
Video
Notes
Watch the Recipe in Action
Want to see how it’s done? Watch Kasha walk through every step of this recipe on Episode 3 of Food For Stories! And please let us know how it turned out for you!
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