The Langham's mince pies
- Petit four
- Medium
- Makes 20
- 1 hour 40 minutes
PT1H40M
These are mince pies, but not as you know them! Executive pastry chef Andrew Gravett encases a simple combination of dried fruit and spice in almond cream and sandwiches it between two crisp almond sablé biscuits. The result is a crisp, light and quintessential taste of Christmas without the claggy, over-sweet flavour of shop-bought mince pies.
Ingredients
Almond cream
- 65g of light brown sugar
- 125g of unsalted butter , softened
- 60g of egg
- 125g of ground almonds
- 35g of cornflour
- 1g of salt
Almond sablé
- 90g of unsalted butter , chilled
- 65g of icing sugar
- 38g of egg
- 22g of ground almonds
- 180g of T45 flour
- 1.5g of salt
Mincemeat
- 40g of currants
- 100g of sultanas
- 100g of golden raisins
- 100g of caster sugar
- 30g of mixed peel
- 5g of mixed spice
- 10g of ground almonds
To serve
- icing sugar, for dusting
Equipment
- 5cm pastry cutter
- 4cm round cutter
- Piping bag and nozzle
- Electric mixer
- 4cm diameter silicone moulds (20)
- silpain mat (2)
Method
1
Begin by macerating the fruit for the mincemeat. Add the currants, sultanas and golden raisins to a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. Toss to coat, then set aside at room temperature for 1 hour. This plumps up and moistens the fruit
- 40g of currants
- 100g of sultanas
- 100g of golden raisins
- 100g of caster sugar
2
For the almond sable, place the butter, icing sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine on a slow speed. Add the eggs a little at a time, along with the ground almonds and 45g of the flour and mix until smooth. Add the remaining flour, mixing until incorporated, then transfer the mixture to a silpain baking mat. You can also use a tray lined with baking paper, but you won’t get the waffle-like pattern on the biscuits
- 90g of unsalted butter , chilled
- 65g of icing sugar
- 1.5g of salt
- 38g of egg
- 22g of ground almonds
- 180g of T45 flour
3
Place another silpain mat (or piece of baking paper) on top of the mixture and roll until 2mm thick. Transfer to the freezer and leave for a few hours until solid
4
Meanwhile, make the almond cream. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until they become smooth and creamy in consistency. Transfer to a piping bag and set aside
- 65g of light brown sugar
- 125g of unsalted butter , softened
- 60g of egg
- 125g of ground almonds
- 35g of cornflour
- 1g of salt
5
Once the dried fruit has been macerating for an hour, add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside and preheat an oven to 160°C/gas mark 3
- 30g of mixed peel
- 5g of mixed spice
- 10g of ground almonds
6
Remove the sable mix from the freezer and cut out 20 5cm circles and 20 4cm circles, removing any leftover dough. Bake in the oven between two silpain mats (if you’re using sheets of baking paper, place another tray on top to ensure they stay flat) for 10 minutes or until beginning to turn golden
7
You now have all the elements ready to assemble and cook the mince pies. Place a 40mm sable biscuit in the base of each mould/tin, then pipe 20g of the almond cream around the perimeter. Fill the centre with 10–15g of the mincemeat, then top with a 50mm sable disc. Transfer to the oven and bake for 12–15 minutes until cooked through, then set aside to cool
8
To serve, wait until the pies have cooled before removing them from the moulds. Dust with icing sugar to finish
- icing sugar, for dusting
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The Langham's mince pies
