It was a game changer when I realised that the classic mince pie could be scaled up into the form of this decadent mincemeat tart! If like me you prefer your pastry to mincemeat ratio leaning a little more towards the latter, you’ll love this festive creation. It’s completely gluten and dairy free, but you’d never know it. This shortcrust pastry is wonderfully soft, rich and golden (much better than any GF pastry you’ll find in the supermarket!). Use it to get creative decorating the top with whatever you fancy, and you’ve got yourself the ultimate Christmas Day centrepiece!
How to make gluten and dairy free pastry?
After trying a few disappointing free from shop-bought pastries, I was convinced that it wasn’t possible to make a decent one. But a little experimenting showed me that pastry in fact does not require gluten or dairy to taste great! For me, this has the same texture and richness of ‘normal’ shortcrust. So, what ingredients will you need? There’s…
- Gluten free plain flour
- Hard dairy free butter
- Light brown sugar
- Xanthan gum
- Eggs
- Salt
The pastry is made by rubbing together the butter and dry ingredients into breadcrumbs, before gradually adding beaten eggs and stirring with a fork until everything comes together. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment can make things quicker. The dough is chilled for 30 minutes before being rolled out. You can find the full recipe here.
Decorating your mincemeat tart
As you can see, I found some fun snowflake cutters for the pastry toppings. You can find the ones I used here and here. But definitely go for whatever shapes you fancy. The pastry quantity I’ve given is fairly generous (you’ll most likely have leftovers which can be frozen for another time), so there’s plenty to work with! Try stars, Christmas trees, snowmen, holly leaves or if you’d prefer to completely cover the mincemeat, you could even create a lattice over the top.
How long will it keep?
Your giant mince pie will keep well in an airtight container for up to a week (if it sticks around for that long!). If you fancy eating a slice warm, just pop it in a preheated oven for 5-10 minutes until heated through. It’s particularly amazing served with a good drizzle of dairy free double cream.
If you give this wonderfully Christmassy dessert a go, let me know how you got on! Leave a comment and rating below, or tag your snaps on Instagram @BlueSkyEating. Happy festive baking! 🙂
Mincemeat Tart (Gluten & Dairy Free)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare your gluten free tart crust, making DOUBLE the amount stated in my recipe. This will leave you with enough pastry to make your decorations for the top of the tart as well. Just split the dough in two and roll out one ball at a time. One will make your tart crust and the other will make your decorations.
- Make your topping decorations while your tart crust bakes by rolling out the other half of the pastry and using cutters of your choice to make some festive shapes. Go for anything you like – stars, Christmas trees, holly leaves. I found some great snowflake cutters (linked in main post above)! There may still be some dough left over, but it's always good to have too much dough to work with rather than too little! Wrap up any leftovers and pop them in the freezer for a future bake.
- Set the oven to 170°C/150°C fan.
- Fill the prepared pastry case with mincemeat and top with your pastry decorations. Brush them with some beaten egg.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the pastry decorations are nice and golden.
Please note that nutritional information is based on estimated quantities and therefore not always 100% accurate.
Mince pies are my favourite! yours looks beautiful!
I love this mincemeat tart so much! It is so delicious and fun to make! I loved all the flavors!
What a brilliant idea to use mincemeat to fill the pie Yum! I’m going to bake it this weekend.
This recipe was so easy to follow and it turned out great! My whole family enjoyed it.
Such a beautiful tart! I love that it is gluten AND dairy free! Thanks for the recipe!