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Festive Marzipan Mince Pies

We are kicking off our festive baking with these mince pies. The orange zest in the pastry really balances the sweet flavours. They are so decadent and the addition of marzipan discs and decorations take them up a notch. A small thin disc of marzipan is placed on the pastry base before you add your mincemeat and then is finished with a marzipan snowflake or star. I used a snowflake cutter but you can use whatever shapes you like. If you have no shape cutter available, just grate some cold marzipan on top.

If you are using a jar of mince meat you can pimp it up by adding some mixed fruit soaked in brandy. I had some left over from our Christmas cake. Just soak the dried fruit in brandy or orange juice overnight and then mix in the the jar of mince meat.

We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do and have fun sharing them with friends and family. Please tag us in your photos or leave a review below. Loraine

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Course Dessert

Servings 16 mince pies

Equipment

Bowl
Muffin tin
Large round circle cutter size ( 10cm)
Small round circle cutter (4 cm) the bottom of a piping nozzle will work.
Snowflake/Star cutter
Grater
spoon
Rolling Pin

Ingredients

Pastry

400 g plain flour
170 g cold salted butter
40 g caster sugar
1 zest orange
8/9 tbsp ice cold water

Filling

1 jar mincemeat large
250 g marzipan

Instructions

MAKE THE MARZIPAN DECORATION TOPS

Sprinkle some icing sugar onto your countertop
Using a rolling pin roll out the marzipan to 3mm thickness
Using a smalll circle cutter ( I used the bottom of a piping nozzle. 3/4cm dimater)cut out 16 circles to fit the base of your muffin tin. Then cut 16 snowflakes/stars to decorate the top. Place on parchment paper and put them in the fridge while you work on your pastry. If you do not have these cutters you can grate some cold marzipan instead.

MAKE THE PASTRY

Place the flour in a large bowl.
Using a hand grater gradually grate the cold butter into the flour. You can either rub in the butter with your fingertips or use an electric mixer to mix it in.
Add the sugar and mix well.
Add the zest of one orange.
Add 8-10 tablespoons of cold water until the mixture comes togther in one large piece. It's best to do this by hand. The amount of water varies as it depends on the humidity of your kitchen, the type of flour you are using etc.
On a floured surface roll out the pastry until its about 3mm in thickness.
Dip your large circle cutter (10 cm) in flour and cut out the circle shapes to be used for your mince pies bases. 10 cm circle cutter fitted my muffin tray.
Using a non stick muffin tray gently press the pastry circles into each shape, making sure to press them at the bottom and edges.
Now get your marzipan shapes from the fridge. The discs are for the bottom on the mince pies and the snowflakes go on top.
Place a marzipan disc into each pastry base.
Using a spoon fill up all your pastry cases with mincemeat.
Place your marzipan snowflake on top of each pie.
Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes or until the edges of the pastry start to go golden brown.
Serve straight away with cream or they will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3/4 days.
You can also freeze them baked. When you want to eat them heat them for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees.