Farmersgirl Kitchen

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Chocolate Mincemeat Tart

I like lots of mincemeat in my tarts and sometimes find that the small tarts tend towards an overload of pastry and not much mincemeat whereas a nice big tart means that it's mostly filling. The mincemeat I used for the tart is Instant Chocolate Mincemeat, this is mincemeat that you can mix up quickly using any mixture of dried fruits you have in your cupboard you can also add nuts, the chopped chocolate adds a lovely richness to the fruit mixture. Makes approximately 2 medium jars.

Chocolate Mincemeat Tart

for the mincemeat
Zest of a lemon
Juice of half a lemon

Juice of half an orange
2 Cox's Orange Pippin apples or 1 Bramley apple
2 cups mixed dried fruit
1 tbsp Tia Maria or brandy
1cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable suet
1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped

1. Put the zest and lemon juice in a bowl, grate the apple including the skin, into the juice.
2. Add all the other ingredients and stir.
3. Store in a lidded jar in the fridge until ready to use.

I used the Oxo Good Grips Box Grater to grate the apple. It was really quick to use and has a very comfortable handle and I love the little collection box which fits on the bottom of the grater, it even has a lid you can store whatever you've grated.

For the pastry

200g plain flour, plus extra for rolling

1/2 tsp salt

50g vegetable shortening or lard

70g butter

2tbsp sugar

1 egg

2tbsp water

1 tbsp flaked almonds to sprinkle on the top

1.Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Cut the shortening and butter into cubes and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles fine crumbs, then stir in the sugar (you can do this in a food processor)
2. Separate the egg and mix the yolk with the cold water set aside the white. Work the mixture together with a knife until it comes together, knead briefly. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5
4. Cut off 1/3 of the pastry and put to one side. Roll out the larger piece of pastry and use to line an 18cm flan/quiche tin.
5. Fill with mincemeat, then roll out the remaining pastry to make a lid.
6. Brush the edges of the pastry base with egg white and place the lid on, trim off excess pastry, press the edges of the pastry together. Brush the top of the pastry with egg white and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

I used a Masterclass Crusty Bake 18cm Quiche Tin from Kitchencraft, the holes in the tins mean that the steam escapes and there is less chance of a soggy bottom, which given that this mincemeat is quite wet, it performed extremely well.

7. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Leave for about 10 minutes to cool, then dust with icing sugar.

You can do this with a sieve or tea strainer, or you can use the Oxo Good Grips Baker's Dusting Wand which is a genius little gadget which I featured in my Christmas Gift Guide.

The Chocolate Mincemeat Tart did not disappoint. The pastry was crisp on the top and melted in the mouth and the fruit filling was lusciously sweet and moist with just enough tartness to prevent it being cloying. Much, much better than a mini mince pie!

I'm entering my Chocolate Mincemeat Tart for Family Foodies, the blog challenge run by Bangers and Mash and Eat your Veg. The theme is Festive Food and Mincemeat Tart is certainly a festive dessert.

Labels: almonds, chocolate, dried fruit, Kitchencraft, mincemeat, OXO Good Grips, pastry, suet, tart

Monday, 2 December 2013

Dish of the Month December - Cooking the recipes of Nigel Slater

Sue from A Little Bit of Heaven on a plate and I have cooked Nigel Slater's the kitchen diaries II all year and here we are at the end of our journey. It started as a way of making sure that we both got the most from this large repository of recipes which we feared might otherwise be neglected. I have to announce that this is the last time we will be launching the linky for you to join in.

I'd like to thank all of you who have travelled the Nigel Slater journey with us, some hopping on and off the carousel, others who bought a season a ticket and rarely stepped off for a break. There will be a December round up and a final post where Sue and I will choose our Dish(es) of the Year and celebrate the fabulous recipes that you have all cooked up for this little blog challenge.

My final hurrah, as 2013 draws near to its end, features one of my favourite things about Christmas - the leftovers! Mincemeat Hot Cakes is a very simple recipe using lightly whipped egg whites to help, the flour, mincemeat and egg yolk mixture to rise. I managed to whip them up in about 15 minutes from ingredient assembly to pan.

Nigel suggests serving the hot cakes with some leftover brandy butter, as I didn't have any I simply added a little butter to the warm hotcakes. They were really fruity, not as light as Scotch Pancakes more of a solid type of hotcake, very tasty though and the flavour of the spices in mincemeat really came through.

If you would like to take part in Dish of the Month, then please:

Make a Dish of the Month from ANY recipe by Nigel Slater
Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen or A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate
Use the Dish of the Month logo in your post
If you use twitter, tweet your post with @FarmersgirlCook or @Heavenona_plate and #DishoftheMonth and we will re-tweet it to our followers.

Rules:

If you own The kitchen diaries II please do not publish the recipes on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
If you are using recipes from the BBC Food website, please link to the recipe on BBC Food rather than publishing the recipe. Likewise recipes on the Guardian Lifestyle website.
One entry per blog.
Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

Labels: A little bit of Heaven on a Plate, December, Dish of the Month, Hot Cakes, mincemeat, Nigel Slater

Saturday, 8 December 2012

Easy Mincemeat 'Sausage' Rolls!

Last week for the Booths Cheers party I was given a 'Secret Mission' to make mince pies with a twist.
Now, the box with the wine arrives on Tuesday and as I'm at work all day, I didn't get my mission instructions until I got home on Tuesday evening. The party is on Wednesday night, so not a lot of time to prepare. I knew I had some ready rolled puff pastry sheets in the freezer and a jar of my 'Instant Chocolate Mincemeat' in the fridge. I initially planned to make some mincemeat pinwheels but, flicking through 'How to Bake' by Paul Hollywood I noticed some sausage rolls...I wonder?

I took the pastry out of the freezer in the morning, so when I came in from work, I assembled my ingredients:
Ready rolled puff pastry - check
Approx 300g Instant chocolate mincemeat - check
2tbsp ground almonds - check
eggs (2) - check
grated zest of an orange - check
1 tbsp Croft Indulgence Finest Reserve Port from Booths - check

This isn't an exact recipe, put the mincemeat in a bowl, mix in one beaten egg. 1 tbsp port and 2 tbsp of ground almonds. Divide the pastry in two lengthways, divide the mincemeat mixture between the two strips of pastry. Beat the other egg and brush egg wash around the edges. Sprinkle the mincemeat with grated orange zest.

Fold the pastry over and press with a fork, brush with egg wash and cut into bite sized pieces.

Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 200C for 10-15 minutes until puffed up and golden. Leave to cool slightly, then serve dusted with icing sugar.

These are quite possibly the easiest mincepies I have ever made. The ground almonds helps to bind the mincemeat together and the orange zest gives a lovely fresh flavour to the 'sausage' rolls.

Labels: Booths Cheers, ground almonds, mince pies, mincemeat, orange, puff pastry

Thursday, 22 November 2012

Instant Mincemeat and Mini Mince Pies

I started my Christmas baking early because I was having an early family get together last weekend. As part of my baking I made some 'Instant Chocolate Mincemeat' and baked it into some teeny mince pies using the brilliant Great British Bakeware from George Wilkinson.

George Wilkinson Great British Bakeware is made in Lancashire and this premium range has an innovative & exclusive long life coating. GlideX is bonded directly onto your ovenware to ensure it keeps performing like new every time. It is scratch resistant, flake-resistant and virtually indestructible. Tested rigorously by Wilkinsons, GlideX outperforms all other non-stick brands.

The tart cups are nice and deep so you can get plenty of filling into your mini pies.

I have found that mince pies can be difficult to get out of the tin, especially if some of the mincemeat oozes out the side and bakes on, sticking the pastry to the tin. This is especially tricky when they are mini pies and they can break as you try to lever them out. I'm pleased to say that this wasn't a problem at all with the George Wilkinson Great British Bakeware mini tart tin.

The pies slid out without any problem at all and the tin was easy to clean with soapy water.

Instant Chocolate Mincemeat

This is mincemeat that you can mix up quickly using any mixture of dried fruits and nuts you have in your cupboard, the addition of some chopped chocolate, adds a lovely richness to the fruit mixture. Makes approximately 1 medium jar.

Zest of a lemon
Juice of half a lemon
1 Cox's Orange Pippin apple
1/4 cup sultanas
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup prunes, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1 tbsp brandy
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable suet
1/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp pistaschio nuts chopped

1. Put the zest and lemon juice in a bowl, grate the apple including the skin, into the juice.
2. Add all the other ingredients and stir.
3. Store in a lidded jar in the fridge until ready to use.

Mini- Mince Pies

For 1 dozen mini mince pies
1/2 jar of Instant Mincemeat or other Mincemeat
1/2 quantity of sweet shortcrust pastry
1 egg, beaten

1. Heat the oven to 180C.
2. Lightly grease the tart tin.
3. Using a medium pastry cutter, cut out 12 rounds and place them into the tin.
4. Add a teaspoon of mincemeat to each tart.
5. Using a small pastry cutter, cut out 12 tops.
6. Brush the edge of the bases with egg wash and add the lids pressing down firmly around the edges.
7. Brush the tops of the tarts with egg wash (optional)
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
9. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then remove to a cooling tray.
10. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Labels: chocolate, George Wilkinson, Glidex Bakeware, Great British Bake Ware, mince pies, mincemeat, mini

Friday, 6 April 2012

Sticky Easter Buns

I've never been very satisfied with the Hot Cross Buns I've made at home, so this year I decided to try something a bit different. I like the idea of a rolled bun, like cinnamon buns, but with the flavours and filling that is reminiscent of a Hot Cross Bun. I made my dough in the bread maker, but if you don't have one you could follow any sweet dough recipe directions.

Sticky Easter Buns

450g strong white flour

1 pkt fast action yeast

2 tsp ground cinnamon

50g soft brown sugar

125g butter, melted

150ml warm milk (not too warm or it will kill the yeast)

100g yogurt

1 egg

1 jar of mincemeat

1 large cooking apple peeled and chopped

For the glaze

25g soft brown sugar

10g butter

6 tbsp water

Put the flour, yeast, cinnamon and brown sugar in the bread maker bowl. Add the melted butter, milk, yogurt and beaten egg. Set to 'dough' and go away and do something else. My bread machine takes 45 minutes to make a dough.

Now you have an option, you can either watch the video below to see what to do or follow the instructions that come after the video. This is my first video clip, so please forgive the length and the fact that I do seem to pick things up with my hands - they are clean, honest!

Flatten out the dough on an oiled surface (or it will stick) and then spread the mincemeat over the dough and distribute the apple pieces evenly across the mincemeat. Roll up the dough from the long side, tucking the join underneath. The slice across and put the the slices into a baking tin lined with baking parchment, cut side up.

Put to one side in a warm place, to let the buns rise for about an hour and a half until they have doubled in size.

Then bake at 200C/180C (fan) for about 30 minutes. To make the glaze, put the sugar, water and butter into a pan and heat slowly to melt the sugar, then bring to the boil and boil for about 3 minutes. Glaze the buns as soon as they come out of the oven. Leave them in the tin until just warm then remove and split.

They are very, very sticky and absolutely delicious.

I'm entering this for Alphabakes challenge, the letter is 'B' this month. This challenge is run by Ros at The more than occasional baker and Caroline at Caroline Makes

Labels: baking, breadmaker, buns, Easter, Hot Cross Buns, mincemeat

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Mincemeat and Apple Cups

I'm still looking for ways to use up the mincemeat I made for Christmas. A quick scout round the BBC Good Food website and I found this recipe for Sticky Apple Cups and used the basic idea of scooping out the centre of the apple, but instead of making a mixture of dried fruit and sugar, I filled mine with mincemeat, surrounded them with orange juice and cooked in the microwave on medium for 5-7 minutes until the apples were soft. I served the apples with vanilla icecream.

It was a super easy dessert although I would recommend a fork and spoon to scoop out the apple.

Labels: Apple, BBC Good Food, dessert, microwave, mincemeat, orange juice

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Mince Pies for Tea Time Treats

I'm entering this for Tea Time Treats as the theme for December is 'Christmas' Team Time Treats is a monthly baking challenge run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at 'What Kate Baked' , Kate is hosting the December challenge.

Last month I made Dark Chocolate Mincemeat using Dan Lepard's Dark Rich Mincemeat recipe from his fabulous book Short and Sweet. So today I made some mince pies and again I turned to Short and Sweet for the Rich Shortcrust Pastry that Dan recommends for mince pies. It's a lovely recipe, sweet and enriched with ground almonds and egg yolk . I was really quite excited about tasting the mince pies and I wasn't disappointed.

Usually I find that mince pies are all pastry and no filling and the pastry never seems very exciting, but the Rich Shortcrust was light, 'short' and added rather than detracted from the mincemeat. I made the pies in my muffin tins, some mini pies in mini muffin tins and a few larger ones. The muffin tins give you a deeper pie which allows for more filling. Definitely a huge hit! If you haven't bought Short and Sweet yet, then get it on your Christmas list.

Labels: Christmas, mince pies, mincemeat, Tea Time Treats

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Sugar and Spice and everything nice...

I love spices and they are very much a part of the winter season bringing warmth to your cooking and baking. So when my DH requested a cake, I thought I would make a Gingerbread. Also it doesn't require any eggs and I only had two left!

The recipe is the Gingerbread Slab from The Good Housekeeping Complete Book of Home Baking.

Gingerbread Slab

Gingerbread should always be wrapped tightly in greaseproof paper and foil, then stored in an airtight tin for 2 days before eating. This allows the cake to mature and become moist and sticky. We managed to leave it for 1 day and it is moist and sticky, but I am sure will get better as the week goes on!

125g (4oz) black treacle (molasses)
125g (4oz) golden syrup
50g (2oz) butter or margarine
50g (2oz) lard ( I used all butter)
225g (8oz) plain white flour
1.25ml (1/4 level tsp) bicarbonate of soda
5 ml (1 level tsp) mixed spice
5ml (1 level tsp) ground ginger
100g (4oz) dark brown soft sugar
150ml (1/4 pint) milk

1. Grease a deep 18cm (7in) square cake tin. Line with greaseproof paper and then great the paper.
2. Put the treacle, golden syrup, butter and lard into a saucepan and heat gently until melted.
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk and treacle mixture. Beat well until smooth and of a thick pouring consistency.
4. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the oven at 170C (325F) mark 3 for 1-1 1/4 hours or until a fine warmed skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 1 hour then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Wrap in greaseproof paper and foil and store in an airtight tin for 2 days before eating.

I also made some mincemeat for Christmas consumption. I used a great recipe from Uma Wylde's blog . Although I did make some changes to the mixture of dried fruits. I used a 300g bag of Testco Island Mix which has dried apricots and pineapple in it as well as raisins. I used a couple of Pink Lady apples rather than the Bramleys, glace cherries instead of cranberries and chopped pecan nuts instead of flaked almonds. I also substituted Cherry Brandy for the cointreau or grand marnier, just because I already had it for my Christmas cake. I had a little lick of the spoon and I have to say it was absolutely delicious and very, very easy to make.

Labels: Gingerbread, Good Housekeeping, mincemeat, Uma Wylde

Saturday, 17 January 2009

Mincemeat and Apple Crumble

Dessert was a Mincemeat and Apple Crumble. A friend gave me a jar of homemade mincemeat for Christmas in 2007 and I hadn't used it. I don't think it would keep for another year, so I combined it with some cooking apples, squeezed some organge juice over and topped with crumble mix, crushed shortbread biscuits (I wanted to use them up) and some chopped pecan nuts. Served it with Yeo Valley yogurt.

Labels: apples, dessert, mincemeat

Sunday, 25 November 2007

Cooking and Blogging

Have really had no time for proper cooking - we are living on M&S this weekend. I am having a craft related weekend (read about it on my other blog). I did manage to make another clever quickie pudding though. I used the rest of the pastry shells I bought in Marks a couple of weeks ago, filled them with mincemeat and put some crumble mix on the top, in the oven for 10 minutes and they were lovely with custard.

Think it's going to be manic till Christmas, but I have a big dinner to do for DH's cousins on 16th, so my blog some of that.

Labels: Christmas, crafts, Marks and Spencers, mincemeat

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