Here's a great alternative to Mince Pies with a little zing!
- 2 eating apples
- 2 oranges
- 1 orange zest and juice only
- 70 g raisins
- 1 tbsp runny honey or maple syrup optional
- 50 g tapioca flour
- 70 g buckwheat flour
- 50 g rice flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 orange zest and a squeeze of juice
- 100 g cold butter cut into cubes
- 1 egg
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Peel the apples and oranges and dice roughly into 1cm cubes. Put into a pan with the orange juice, zest raisins and honey, if using.
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Heat gently for around 25 mins until the fruit becomes soft, then set aside whilst you make the pastry.
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Mix the flours together with the cinnamon, if using, and then add the orange zest. Lightly rub the butter into the flour with your finger tips to form a breadcrumb texture.
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Beat the egg and add to the mixture along with the squeeze of orange juice and form a ball of pastry. You can wrap your pastry in cling film and chill for 20 mins although not essential.
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Pre-heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6.
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Flour your work surface and roll out the pastry into a thin sheet with a rolling pin. Cut out small circles (around 8cm diameter) and stars for lids (around 6cm across.) You can adjust the size to match your tart tray.
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Place the circles into a greased mini tart tray, add a heaped tablespoon of filling, and top with a pastry star.
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Bake for 10-15 mins until golden, and allow to cool before serving.
If gluten and wheat aren't an issue you could use plain wheat flour, if you do make sure you chill your pastry. Before adding any honey or maple syrup, try the apple and orange filling as it may already be sweet enough, it depends how tart the apples are.