Mince Pies with Cranberries

cranberry studded fruit mince pies 4

Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings to everyone!

I hope you have had a wonderful season cooking and baking your Christmas favourites, as well as being inspired by some new recipes.

Mince Pie

I know I have previously mentioned that I am not a great fan of fruit mince. That still remains the case, but I cannot conceive a Christmas without mince pies.

I try to resolve this conundrum by either making mince pies with really thick pastry and minimal filling, or just really, really tiny mince pies.

For the latter, I like to resort to Nigella’s tried and trusted recipe for Star-Topped Minced Pies from How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

Mince Pie Recipe

This year, I tried my hand at making the Cranberry-Studded Fruit Mince from Nigella Christmas. The cranberry fruit mince itself is quite quick and easy to make, provided that you have easy access to fresh or frozen cranberries where you live.

This mince pie recipe recipe starts by dissolving some sugar into some port, which instantly provokes the scent and aroma of mulled wine, something which I love and is indeed very Christmassy for me.

Mincemeat

There is no getting around the dried raisins and currants which are essential to fruit mince, but the cranberries provide a nice tart flavour to remind you that it is not all dried fruit.

Though, the cranberries which I used were a bit too tart and I found that I had to add more honey than specified in the recipe to sweeten the mixture; in hindsight, I probably should have just added a tablespoon or two of caster sugar.

cranberry studded fruit mince pies 2

Pastry for Fruit Mince Pies

This pastry is something which I use every year for my mince pies. It is easy to make and easy to work with.

The pastry should ideally be kept cold before rolling out, otherwise it will shrink considerably upon baking.

I use a small tart pan which produces wee small mince pies which are perfect for eating with one bite. They are perhaps a bit more fiddly to make but I find the pastry to fruit mince ratio perfect 🙂

Print

Mince Pies with Cranberries

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5 from 1 review

  • Author: eatlittlebird.com
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: Makes about 36 little pies
  • Category: Cakes
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: British

Recipe adapted from Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

For the Pastry

  • 240g (1 2/3 cup) plain flour (all-purpose flour)
  • 60g (5 tablespoons) vegetable shortening or lard
  • 60g (5 tablespoons or 1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
  • juice of 1 orange
  • pinch of salt

For the Cranberry-Studded Fruit Mince

  • 60ml (1/4 cup) port
  • 75g (1/2 cup) dark brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar
  • 340g fresh cranberries
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 150g (1 cup) dark raisins
  • 30g (1/4 cup) dried cranberries
  • 1 orange, zest and juice
  • 25ml (2 tablespoons) dark rum
  • 2 tablespoons honey, or more to taste

Instructions

For the Pastry

  1. Measure the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer and dollop the vegetable shortening and butter into the flour.
  2. Using the flat paddle attachement, beat on low speed until the shortening and butter are incorporated into the flour and the mixture resembles wet sand.
  3. Place the bowl into the fridge or freezer for about 20 minutes. If you live somewhere really cold in winter like I do, I just simply place the bowl outside on the balcony.
  4. Dissolve the salt into the orange juice.
  5. Slowly pour the juice into the flour mixture while beating on low speed. Add just enough juice to bring the mixture together into a ball of dough. If you add too much juice, you might need to add some more flour. If you need more liquid, add some iced water.
  6. Lightly knead the dough into a soft ball, divide into three portions, and wrap each portion in cling film.
  7. Place the dough in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to rest.

For the Cranberry-Studded Fruit Mince

  1. Dissolve the sugar in the port in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Add the cranberries, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, raisins, dried cranberries and the zest and juice of the orange.
  3. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the mixture has broken down and most of the liquid has evaporated.
  4. Take the pan off the heat and stir through the rum and honey. Taste and see if you need to add more honey to taste.
  5. Leave to cool completely.
  6. If you are storing the mincemeat, spoon the mixture into sterilised jars.

To Assemble

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F).
  2. Roll out a disc of pastry until it is quite thin.
  3. Use a cookie cutter to cut out rounds to fit a mini muffin pan or mini tart pan.
  4. Line the pans with the pastry.
  5. Fill each pastry cup with some fruit mince.
  6. Re-roll the pastry as needed to cut out stars (or other shapes) which will fit as lids on top of each pastry cup.
  7. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until they are lightly golden.
  8. Remove the cooked mince pies to a wire rack and let the pan cool down completely before you make the next batch.
  9. Serve the fruit mince pies warm or at room temperature with a dusting of icing sugar.

Kitchen Notes

CONVERSIONS To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.

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11 comments

  1. Caroline 25 December 2011

    Happy Christmas Thanh!! Its been hectic but in a fantastic way and my family has done justice to two days of cooking! Hope your day is lovely, filled with good food, love and friendship! From my home to yours, God bless!

    Reply
    • eat, little bird 25 December 2011

      Merry Christmas, Carrie! You should be so proud of your gorgeous Christmas spread! What a lucky family you have 🙂 Warm wishes to your family and I hope there is more good food to be had in the remaining days of the holiday season!

      Reply
  2. manu 25 December 2011

    Beautiful pies!!
    Merry Christmas!

    Reply
  3. Denise 29 December 2011

    Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Those little pies are just adorable:)

    Reply
    • eat, little bird 29 December 2011

      Thanks, Denise! Hope you had a great Christmas also! Wishing you all the best for the New Year 🙂

      Reply
  4. Rituparna 8 December 2012

    Hi! I love your blog 🙂 I had a question, for this, instead of cranberries can i use strawberries? You dont get cranberries in India where I live. And the other question was – for that beautiful rhubarb and custard cake, could i use strawberries again? because Rhubarb too is alien here. Thanks – will be trawling through often! 🙂

    Reply
    • eat, little bird 8 December 2012

      Hello,
      I’m not sure if strawberries would work in this fruit mince because it needs something with texture and tartness. I think the strawberries would break down too much and go mushy; cranberries, on the other hand, keep some of their shape. Perhaps a traditional fruit mince made from sultanas and raisins might be a better option for you?

      But for the Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake, you could certainly try strawberries as a topping instead of rhubarb. In fact, Jodie from Jo Blogs Jo Bakes made the cake topped with slices of apple and sprinkled with cinnamon, something which I will definitely try next time.

      Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you will find more recipes to try 🙂

      Reply
  5. Julia 12 April 2018

    What a fantastic idea! this looks delicious! So YUMMY!!!






    Reply
  6. Anne 14 May 2019

    Background is black and cannot see recipe.

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 22 May 2019

      Hi Anne,
      Thanks for letting me know! I have fixed the recipe card 🙂

      Reply