Gluten-free mince pies with damson and cobnuts
Gluten-free needn’t mean fun-free this Christmas. Victoria Glass shows us how there’s no reason to miss out on any of the festive classics just because wheat’s off your menu.
Ingredients
Damson and cobnut mincemeat
- 425g of apple juice , or cider
- 425g of light muscovado sugar
- 425g of cooking apples , peeled, cored and chopped
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch of ground cloves
- 425g of currants
- 425g of raisins
- 300g of damsons , (or plums)
- 200g of cobnuts , fresh and roughly chopped (you can use hazelnuts instead)
- 1 orange , grated zest and juice of
- 250ml of brandy
Gluten-free sweet shortcrust
- 300g of rice flour
- 150g of unsalted butter
- 100g of caster sugar
- 1 orange , finely grated zest of
- 1 egg , beaten
- milk, splash of (if needed)
Method
1
For the mincemeat, put the apple and sugar into a large pan and heat gently until the sugar has completely dissolved
2
Stir in the rest of the ingredients, minus the brandy. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Lower the heat, partially cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes
3
Remove from the heat and leave to become completely cold. Stir in the brandy and spoon into cold, sterilised jars. Cover with waxed discs and tight fitting lids
4
For the shortcrust, it’s easiest to blitz the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs, before pulsing in the remaining ingredients. You want the dough to be soft but not sticky. If you’re doing it by hand, simply rub the flour and fat together before adding the sugar and forking through the egg before kneading it together gently to form a ball. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes
5
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and butter a 12 hole muffin tray
6
Roll out the pastry between two sheets of cling film - this is the best way I’ve found for rolling all shortcrust (including wheat), as it doesn’t require any extra flour and keeps the pastry from falling apart
7
Cut out rounds and line the tray. You can easily patch up any cracks or holes with extra pastry. Fill the pies with mincemeat and top with pastry lids lightly brushed with a little milk
8
Prick the tops with a fork and bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before turning out
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Gluten-free mince pies with damson and cobnuts
