Christmas Mincemeat Meringue Pie
Christmas already?
Well, not quite yet , but certainly time to start to post some festive recipes.
This may sound strange, taking into account that I’m posting this , but I’m not a lover of sweet mince!
Not just in this dish, but also in other festive bakes such as mince pies . I know, why am I writing and posting a recipe I don’t like?
Easy to answer, other people in my family love them and thats good enough for me!
This is a super easy dish to bake and looks very effective sitting in the middle of a table filled with holly and the usual red and green decorations.
It is best eaten as close to it being baked as possible, only because as it sits , the juice from the filling starts to leak into the pastry making it softer than I would like.
That’s never really been too much of a problem in my house, once its put on the table, it doesn’t take too long before I’m removing the empty plate to the dishwasher.
A combination of tangy and juicy fruit with that hint of port, a slightly sweet, soft meringue and then there’s the crumbly pastry.
Not a bad bite to have at Christmas!
Make sure that you read the tip box before starting to make it, there are a few tips there that will help!
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Soft tender meringue with a layer of tangy sweet mincemeat.
What You Need
Pastry
225g Plain Flour – Plus more for dusting and rolling
50g Ground Almonds
50G Icing Sugar
125g Butter – Cold and cubed
3-6 Tbsp Cold Water – See Tip Box
Zest of 1 Lemon
5 Tbsp Fresh Breadcrumbs – See Tip Box
Trim the edges
Filling
900g Sweet Mince Meat – See Tip Box
Zest Of 1 Lemon
1 Tbsp Port – See Tip Box
Fill with baking beans and blond bake
Meringue
3 Egg Whites – use large eggs
175g Castor Sugar
Meringue - whipped , bag filled and piped on top
How It’s Done
Place the flour, ground almonds, icing sugar and butter into a bowl and using fingertips or a pastry cutter, rub the ingredients together until they resemble fine breadcrumbs
Add the lemon zest and the water – See Tip Box
Using a blunt knife, begin to bring the pastry together.
Once it starts to come together into a ball, use hands to form a soft dough ball – See Tip Box
Wrap the dough ball in cling film an let it rest in the fridge for 20 mins.
While the pastry is resting, prepare a loose bottomed 23cm tin by coating the inside of the tin with butter and then dusting with flour.
Once the pastry has rested, lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll the pastry out into a large circle big enough to overlap the tin by approx. 1 ½ inches.
Use a fork to prick all over the bottom of the pastry and place the tin into the fridge to rest and chill for 30 minutes.
Pour the sweet mince into a bowl, add the lemon zest and the port and give it a good mix to combine.
Set aside until needed
Heat the oven to 180c
After 30 minutes in the fridge, remove the pastry case and trim the excess pastry away from the edges
Cover the pastry with non-stick baking parchment.
Add baking beans on top of the paper and bake blind for 15 minutes
Remove from the oven and take off the beans and paper.
Put the pastry case back into the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes.
After the 10 minutes are up, remove the case from the oven and reduce the temperature to 160c.
Scatter the dried breadcrumbs over the bottom of the pastry case and then pour the mincemeat over the top and level out.
Place the tart back in to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
While the tart is baking, place the egg whites into a clean, dry bowl and whisk until they form stiff peaks - See Tip Box
Once this stage has been reached, while still whisking, add the castor sugar 1 teaspoon at a time until all the sugar has been used and the meringue, is dissolved and is thick and glossy – See Tip Box
Place the meringue into a piping bag and snip off the end and pipe over the top of the tart – See Tip Box
Place the piped tart back into the oven until the top has parts that are golden brown.
Once the top has colour, remove from the oven and serve hot or cold.
Bake so there is colour on the meringue
Tip Box
Water – How much water you need for the pastry will vary depending on lots of factors. How wet or dry the atmosphere can affect the pastry and how much water the pastry will need to come together into a soft dough. Start with 3 Tbsp of cold water to begin with and then add more needed.
Sweet Mincemeat- I used a bought sweet mincemeat, but if you have a good recipe, make your own
Breadcrumbs – Don’t use shop bought breadcrumbs, using stale bread to make your own work as a way of keeping the pastry bottom from going soggy.
Port – Because I like a tipple of port at Christmas, adding it to the mincemeat seemed the thing to do, but as always, if you want to add something else, go ahead.
Pastry – When handling the pastry, don’t over work it as the more the pastry dough is handled, the denser it will become.
Meringue – When piping the meringue on top of the tart, I piped it into peaks
Crumbly pastry with a tangy layer
