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Inspiration

Mince pie tart with oat and nut crumble

Mince pie tart with oat and nut crumble

A twist on the classic mince pie, elevating it from festive snack to the status of dessert with the addition of a crumble-like topping – just the thing for Christmas Eve supper or a post-lunch pudding. We’ve used spelt flour for our pastry and crumble, which adds to the nutty flavour, but you could also use plain wheat flour if that’s what you have. You’ll also need four, individual tart tins, but if you only have a large one, you can easily turn this recipe into one mince pie to cut and share – follow the same cooking times, just make sure the filling is bubbling before you take your tart out of the oven.

What you’ll need

For the pastry:

100g butter, cubed
200g spelt flour
A pinch of salt
8 tbsp water

For the filling:

270g good-quality (or homemade!) mincemeat
2 tbsp cranberry sauce
Juice of half an orange

For the crumble:

30g flaked almonds
40g rolled oats
30g spelt flour
30g butter, cold and cubed
20g soft light brown sugar
1 orange, zested

To serve (optional):

A dusting of icing sugar
Vanilla yogurt, cream, ice cream or brandy butter

What to do

  1. Preheat your oven to 160°C fan, gas mark three.
  2. Starting with the pastry, place the butter and spelt flour in a bowl and rub together with your hands until they resemble fine breadcrumbs (you can also do the same thing in a food processor if you’d prefer). Add in the salt and the water and, using your hands, work it until it comes together as a dough. Leave in the bowl, covered, for ten minutes.
  3. Divide the dough into four even portions and, taking one at a time, roll out to the thickness of a £2 coin. Take your mini tart cases and place the dough over, carefully pressing it into the corners before cutting off any excess. Prick the dough with a fork all over, cover with parchment and fill with baking beans (dried lentils or grains also work if you don’t have any baking beans, you just won’t be able to cook with them after). Bake for ten minutes, remove the beans and parchment, then bake for a further ten minutes.
  4. While the pastry is cooking, mix your mincemeat together with the cranberry sauce and the orange juice, then set aside.
  5. Now for the crumble topping. Rub together all the ingredients in a bowl with your hands until they resemble breadcrumbs.
  6. Once the pastry is beginning to colour, remove from the oven, place a couple of tablespoons of the mincemeat mixture into each tart case and top with the crumble.
  7. Bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes or until the top is beginning to colour and the mincemeat is bubbling. Serve, still warm and dusted with a little icing sugar, as they are or with the accompaniment of your choice.

For more of our Christmas dishes, take a look at the recipes section of our journal here.