Recipes

Mincemeat and custard tarts

Mincemeat custard tarts. Photograph: Donal Skehan

Donal Skehan
Fri Dec 2 2016 - 12:00
Serves: 0
Course: Dessert
Cooking Time: 2 hrs 0 mins
Ingredients
  • Makes 24
  • For the filling:
  • 175ml milk
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste
  • For the pastry:
  • 400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 300g butter, very cold and cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 1 large free range egg, beaten
  • 1 tbsp ice-cold water
  • For assembly:
  • 2 x 400g jar of mince meat
  • 60g dark brown sugar
  • To serve:
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 5 tbsp icing sugar, to dust

A sweet and luxurious twist on a festive classic. These little mince pies are topped off with smooth vanilla custard and torched with sugar to add sweet crunch. Sure to be an instant hit at your Christmas party this year. You will need a kitchen blowtorch for these.

For the pastry, put the flour and butter into a mixing bowl and, using your fingertips, lightly rub them together until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Stir in the sugar and then make a well in the centre. Add the beaten egg and cold water, incorporating with a spoon. When the dough comes together, turn it out onto a clean work surface and knead lightly, just until it forms a ball, then divide it in two. Press it into flat circles, wrap in cling film and allow it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the custard filling. Place the milk in a saucepan and gently heat until it is just boiling, then remove from the heat. Whisk the caster sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until they are pale and then mix through the cornflour and vanilla. Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking until it is all incorporated.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and simmer over a low heat, whisking for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Remove from the heat and rub the top with a little butter to prevent a skin forming. Allow the custard to cool and cover with cling film.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/gas 6.

Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface to approximately 3mm in thickness. Using a 10cm fluted cutter, cut out 24 rounds and place into a muffin tray (12 from each ball).

Add 1 heaped tablespoon of mincemeat to each tart case (leaving about 1-2cm of pastry free of mincemeat) and place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Top each tart with spoonfuls of custard and sprinkle with dark brown sugar. Using a blow torch, caramelise the sugar on top of each tart and allow to cool.

Dust each tart with a mixture of icing sugar and cinnamon.

Serve straight away.

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