Christmas recipe serves: 8
calories per serving: 780
preparation time: 1 hour and chilling
cooking time: 45 minutes
suitable for freezing after step 4

Christmas recipe ingredients:

salt, a pinch
• orange, grated rind and juice from a quarter
• butter, 150 g (5 oz)
• eggs, 2
• marzipan, white almond 250 g (9 oz)
• caster sugar
• double cream, 300 ml (10 fl oz)

Fruity Mincemeat:

• lemon, grated rind and juice from 1
• raisins/sultanas, 125 g (4 oz) of each
• currants & dried peaches (or apricots, pears),125 g (4 oz) of each
• mixed spice, 1.25 ml (quarter tsp)
• sugar, light brown 100 g (3.5 oz)
• brandy, 100 ml (4 fl oz)
• eating apples, 200 g (7 oz)
• white grapes, seedless 125 g (4 oz)

Christmas recipe instructions:

1. Mincemeat: Combine the brandy, brown sugar, mixed spice, dried fruit, and lemon rind with juice. Add cubed apple and halved grapes. Mix and keep at about 5 degrees centigrade for a minimum of a day.

2. Tart: Use a food processor to mix the flour and salt for a few seconds. Throw in the butter and orange rind and produce a granular mixture. Add a mixture of beaten eggs (30 ml, 2 tbsp) and orange juice (30 ml, 2 tbsp) and process under a consitent mixture has formed. Remove and knead on a floured surface before colling for half an hour.

3. Line a 9 inch tart tin with rolled pastry and heat (having line with greaseproof paper and baking beans) at gas mark 6 (200 degrees centigrade, 400 F) for quarter of an hour. Remove the paper and baking beans, heat for another 5 minutes, brush with beaten egg, heat for another 2 minutes.

4. Remove and keep the liquid from the mincemeat, add diced marzipan (50 g, 2 oz) and place in the pastry case. Add criss-cross strips of rolled marzipan on top, brush with beaten egg and coat with sugar. Cook until the marzipan is golden brown (abut 20 minutes). Leave for 10 minutes then cool.

5. To serve: Whip the kept mincemeat juice with the cream and serve with the warm tart.

Paul Curran

25 years in the Chemical Industry, mainly Research & Development. 10 years as a Health & Safety Consultant. Been involved in internet publishing since 2001. Now running Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group, producing consumer information products & resource web sites covering a variety of subjects.