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
- 2 eggs
- Salt
The pastry is made by rubbing together/blitzing 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, and once more when it’s inside the tin.
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 in this recipe is quite 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 us 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
- 650 g mincemeat (shop-bought or homemade)
- 550 g gluten-free plain flour (I use Doves Farm)
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 250 g hard dairy-free butter block or standard unsalted butter if not making DF (I used Flora Plant Butter)
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- Extra beaten egg (for pastry egg wash)
Instructions
- Cut the dairy-free block/butter into small cubes and add to a large bowl.
- Sieve the gluten-free flour into the bowl and add the xanthan gum, brown sugar and salt. Stir to combine.
- Rub the butter and dry ingredients together with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You can also blitz everything together using a food processor.
- Transfer the mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment, or keep in the first large bowl if mixing by hand. Gradually add the beaten egg, using a fork to roughly incorporate it through the mixture.
- If using the electric mixer, set to a low-medium speed and mix until everything comes together to form a dough. If mixing by hand, continue using the fork to bring everything together. Avoid handling it too much. The dough may be a little sticky at this point but should firm up as it chills.
- Wrap the ball of dough in cling film or foil and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Grease and line a 9" flan tin.
- Once the dough has chilled, split it into two and roll one half out between two sheets of baking paper until approx 3-5mm thick and big enough to cover the tin with a generous overhang.
- Remove the top layer of paper and use the bottom layer to support the pastry as you carefully flip it and drape it the over the flan tin. Gently push the pastry down into the edges so it closely lines the tin and prick the base a couple of times with a fork. The overhanging pastry around the edge will be removed once cooked. Return the pastry-lined tin to the fridge to chill for another 30 minutes.
- While the tart base chills, make your topping decorations 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)! After this there will probably be some dough left over, but it's always good to have too much dough to work with rather than too little! Pop any leftovers in the freezer for next time.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
- Place some baking paper over the pastry-filled tin and cover with baking beans, rice, or anything that will weigh the pastry down evenly.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the baking paper/beans and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/150°C fan. Fill the 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.
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