Apple crumble mince pies

A different take on mince pies but very delicous and suitably moreish!

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These deep mince pies have a buttery shortbread crust, with the festively enticing flavours of orange, mixed spice and almonds coming through. They are filled with a sweet mincemeat, almond paste, freshly cubed apples and a delicious crumble topping.

I like to serve these slightly warmed, either just as they are or with cream, ice cream or custard.

With mince pies, my preference is usually to go down the shortbread route for the crust: for me it just adds an extra level of deliciousness than a bog-standard shortcrust with filling. However, for a speedier and easier version you can use a bought shortcrust pastry: you can elevate it by lightly working in orange zest and ground almonds if you wish.

The dough left after lining the tins (the off-cuts) are then used for the crumble topping.

The marzipan or almond paste in the filling is not essential but I always have some left over from the Christmas cake that I keep inb airtight containers and it works so well here: I love the texture and the added almondy flavour it adds.

These are best made in deep loose-bottomed muffin tins so the baked pies can be removed easily.However, if made in deep tins that are not loose bottomed you can simply invert them onto a cooling rack once they have cooled a bit and out they will pop. Some of the crumble will scatter on the work surface – although most of it will remain in the pie – but simply sprinkle it back on top – nobody else needs know!

Recipe: apple crumble mince pies – makes about 12

Dough (this amount will line 12 tins, with some left for the crumble):

• 180g plain flour
• 30g ground almonds
• 90g butter
• 60g caster sugar
• 1 medium egg yolk (you can freeze the whites for meringues or macarons)
• grated zest of most of a whole orange – the rest of the zest will be used in the filling and to finish
• about 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• cold water to mix

Filling:

• a small jar of good quality sweet mincemeat
• 2 tablespoons rum, Amaretto or brandy, optional – or you can use the juice of the orange if you prefer
• 1 medium apple, cored and diced finely
• a few gratings of the orange zest
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• about 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• about 50g marzipan or almond paste

Crumble topping:

• the remaining dough from lining the tins
• 1-2 tablespoons oats
• 20g ground almonds or crushed walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

To finish:

• icing sugar for dusting
• finely grated orange zest

You will also need a deep, loose-bottomed muffin tray that has been greased liberally. The oven should be preheated to 175C (fan).

Method

(1) To make the dough, add the shortbread ingredients (apart from the water) to a food processor and pulse a few times to break down the butter. Add about a tablespoon of water and pulse again, repeating a few more times if necessary just until the dough forms a soft but not sticky ball.

(2) Scoop the dough onto the work surface and lightly work it until it is smooth. Place on a sheet of parchment or clingfilm, flatten it down a bit and wrap. Chill for at least an hour or until needed.

(3) Once chilled, roll out and cut out 12 circles using cookie cutters and ease each gently into the greased tin holes: re-roll the trimmings gently to get the 12 circles of dough. You can now use your fingers to gently ease the dough up to the top of the holes. You can lightly press a fork around the rims if you wish to give a neater finish.

(4) Chill the lined tins while you prepare the filling and the crumble topping.
NB: alternatively, you can take small balls of the dough, place them into the tins and use your fingers to shape them up the sides.

(5) For the filling, mix the mincemeat with the alchohol or orange juice. Break the marzipan into smallish chunks (if it is firm or on the dry side, you can grate it) and mix into the mincemeat. Add a rounded teaspoon or so of the filling to each of the pastry “cases”.

(6) Mix the chopped apples with the sugar, cinnamon and a little more orange zest and sprinkle onto the mincemeat. You can add a little more if you wish, but don’t come right to the top of the pastry rim.

(7) Make the crumble topping by adding the remaining dough (left over from lining the tins) to a bowl along with the oats, almonds and mixed spice. Go in with your hands and squish everything together.

(8) Turn out onto a sheet of parchment or a plate and either break apart into smallish chunks for a rockier crumble OR freeze this dough until it is much firmer and grate coarsly into “shreds”. Alternatively, you can make a normal crumble mixture (rub together about 60g plain flour, 20g sugar, 40g butter, a tablespoon or so each of oats and ground almonds)

(9) Add a teaspoon or so of the crumble topping to each tart, patting down lightly.

(10) Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the crumble has a golden-brown tinge and you can see some of the mincemeat bubbling around the edges.

(11) Leave in the tin for about 10 minutes before carefully removing the pies. It is worth running a knife around the pies (between the crust and the tin) to loosen any that might the slightly stuck to the tin. For a loose-bottomed tin, simply push each hole upwards and transfer the pies to a cooling rack.  Finish with a dusting of icing sugar and a little grated orange.

NB: if the tins are not loose-bottomed, there are two approaches to get the pies out in one piece. You can either use a couple flat-bladed knifes in a kind of delicate pincer movement to carefully lift each pie out but I find it is easier to place a cooling rack on top of the pies and carefully invert. Once inverted, slowly lift the tray and the pies will pop out gently. Turn the pies over so they are the right way up and scatter back on top any of the crumble that came off when inverting.

Some of my other mince pie recipes:

Mince pies with pistachio Viennese biscuit topping

Carrot & caraway mince pies with smoked sugar

Luxury orange shortbread mince pies with a macaroon topping