Mince Pie Tart with a homemade sweet shortcrust pastry and ready-made mincemeat, a delicious Christmas dessert that is full of festive flavours. This tart is basically a giant mince pie topped with star-shaped pastry and lightly dusted with icing sugar for an even more indulgent touch. A family-favourite christmassy treat that is so easy to make with a handful of ingredients.
Mince pies are quintessentially British, and no doubt one of the most popular Christmas bakes during the festive season. Whether you make your own pies, or you get them ready-made, mince pies are a must-have on the Christmas table.
I never actually made my own fruit mincemeat for pies, I guess the shop-bought one is not only delicious, but also economical and it saves you time and effort. I do, however, used it in many homemade treats like Mincemeat Loaf Cake, Apple and Mincemeat Crumble and Mincemeat Flapjacks.
I also made Chocolate Mince Pies and Frangipane Mince Pies, which are a delicious twist on the classic dessert recipe. And now, this lovely mincemeat tart which is incredibly decadent and rich and sweet, just perfect for the season of indulging.
Apart from making the sweet shortcrust pastry, there is very little else to prep. And even the pastry is easy peasy to put together, with all the blind baking and chilling the dough.
Note!
Go to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions!
Ingredients used
- flour - I used plain flour, which works the best for shortcrust pastry, we do not need any levelling agent here
- butter - cold straight from the fridge works the best to keep the dough chilled
- sugar - I used granulated sugar for the dough, but caster or even icing sugar can be used instead
- egg - I used a whole egg for this dough
- milk - it's the binding agent together with the egg
- mincemeat - I used 2 x 400 g jars of ready-made mincemeat
- icing sugar - for dusting over the pie
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- to make the shortcrust pastry, sift the flour in a large mixing bowl, add the cold butter cut into cubes, and use your fingertips to rub them until you get a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs
- add the sugar and mix them to combine
- beat the egg well and add it to the mixture together with the milk
- knead everything into a nice dough that does not stick to the hands
- cover the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate it for 20 minutes
- roll out the dough and lay it into your pie dish
- trim the excess dough by using the rolling pin to roll over the pastry - keep the reamining dough to cut out star shapes for later!
- cover the pastry with non-stick paper, then arrange the baking beads over the bottom of the pie
- bake at 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes
- remove the baking beads and paper, and fill the pie with the mincemeat, making sure it's a nice and even layer
- cut out star shapes out of the remaining dough and decorate the pie
- return the pie to the oven for a further 15 minute, dropping the temperature to 180 degrees Celsius ( 350 Fahrenheit)
- once baked, remove the pie from the oven, and allow it to cool down in the dish completely
- dust with icing sugar
Expert tips
Handle the pie with care once it comes out of the oven - the mincemeat filling is extremely hot and can cause burns. Do not remove the pan from the dish straight away, as the hot filling is quite heavy and the pastry will collapse.
Allow the pie to cool down completely in the dish it was baked, then you can use a sharp knife to run it around the edges of the pie to help it pop out - it should be quite easy to do so.
The pie can be refrigerated for up to a week - you can pop it back in the oven to warm up before serving if you wish, although you can also enjoy it cold from the fridge.
If you’ve liked this recipe or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM , YOUTUBE, TIK TOK , FLIPBOARD and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Mince Pie Tart
Ingredients
- 250 g plain flour ( 2 cups)
- 125 g butter (½ cup)
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar ( confectioners' sugar)
- 2 jars mincemeat ( 2 x 400 g / 2 x 13 oz)
Instructions
- To make the shortcrust pastry, sift the flour in a large mixing bowl, add the cold butter cut into cubes, and use your fingertips to rub them together until you get a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the granulated sugar and mix to combine everything.
- Beat the egg well in a small bowl, then add it to the mixture together with the milk.
- Knead everything into a dough that does not stick to the hands.
- Cover the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius ( 390 Fahrenheit).
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough, and lay it onto the pie dish, pressing it down gently.
- Use a fork to prick the dough in several places.
- To remove the excess dough, use the rolling pin to roll it out.
- Cover the dough with non-stick paper and arrange baking beans onto the bottom of the pastry.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans.
- Spoon out the mincemeat over the bottom of the pastry.
- Cut out star shapes from the ramaining dough, and arrange them over the pie.
- Drop the oven temperature to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) and bake for a futher 15 minutes.
- Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool down completely in the dish.
- Dust with icing sugar.
Video
Notes
- Handle the pie with care once it comes out of the oven - the mincemeat filling is extremely hot and can cause burns. Do not remove the pan from the dish straight away, as the hot filling is quite heavy and the pastry will collapse.
- Allow the pie to cool down completely in the dish it was baked, then you can use a sharp knife to run it around the edges of the pie to help it pop out - it should be quite easy to do so.
Nutrition
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Leave a Reply