Pistachio and orange and almond crumble mince pies
over 4 years in The Irish Times
For the mincemeat:
1 Put all of the ingredients except the brandy into a medium-sized saucepan and stir well to combine. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for a further five minutes to ensure the sugar has dissolved.
2 Remove from the heat and add the brandy. Leave to cool completely. Chill in the fridge until ready to make the mince pies.
For the pastry:
1 Rub the flour, butter, and salt together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix well to combine. Add the egg and bring the dough together into a ball. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
2 Roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper, and using a 10cm fluted round cutter, cut out 12 circles. You will have to reroll the scraps to make 12.
3 Put the pastry discs into a lightly greased muffin tray and chill the tray in the fridge while making the remaining elements of the mince pies.
For the pistachio orange frangipane topping:
1 Chop the pistachios finely. Cream the butter and sugar together until soft. Add the egg, beat well, followed by the finely chopped pistachios, ground almonds, flour, orange zest and Cointreau. Mix well, and chill in the fridge until ready to assemble.
For the almond crumble topping:
1 Rub the butter and flour together with the sugar and oats. Add the flaked almonds and almond extract. Chill until ready to assemble.
To assemble the pies:
1 Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Put a teaspoon and a half of the cooled mincemeat into each of the chilled pastry cases.
2 Sprinkle six of the mince pies with the almond crumble.
3 Spoon a teaspoon or so of the pistachio frangipane into the remaining mince pies and spread out to the edges using the back of a spoon.
4 Bake the pies for 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.