Hairy Bikers frangipane mince pies skip the pastry lid, so an almond sponge with flaked almonds bakes over the mincemeat in a nutty shortcrust case. With the Everyday Winners recipe you get 24 at about 225 calories each, in roughly 1¼ hours with chilling.
Half the pastry is the point, because in Everyday Winners they write that “going topless means there is half the amount of pastry”. And the cases themselves are made with ground almonds and icing sugar as well as flour.
Spread the frangipane right to the pastry edge, until the mincemeat is “completely covered”, in their words. Then no bare fruit sits under a hot oven, which I’d expect to catch, so add an extra dab wherever the frangipane thins.
Hairy Bikers Frangipane Mince Pies
Description
Almond pastry lines two fairy cake tins, then each case gets a spoonful of mincemeat and a smooth layer of soft frangipane. So they need only 15 to 17 minutes in the oven, coming out domed and golden, ready for icing sugar or rum butter.
Ingredients
For the almond pastry
For the frangipane
To assemble
For the rum butter (optional, from the BBC Food version)
Instructions
- Make the pastry: Pulse the flour, ground almonds, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs and is about to clump. Add the egg yolk and pulse again, then add the iced water a little at a time until you have a slightly tacky dough.
- Chill: Wrap the dough well and chill it, allowing about 30 minutes, since no time is given in Everyday Winners.
- Make the frangipane: Meanwhile, beat the butter and caster sugar together until very soft and aerated. Then add the eggs, ground almonds, flour, almond extract if using and the salt, and mix to combine.
- Line the tins: Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Then roll the pastry to about 3mm on a lightly floured surface. And cut 24 rounds with a 7.5 to 8cm cutter to line two 12-hole fairy cake tins.
- Fill: Put a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat in each case, then a generously heaped teaspoon of frangipane on top. Spread it until the mincemeat is completely covered, adding a little more if needed to seal the edges, then sprinkle with flaked almonds.
- Bake: Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and the frangipane is lightly browned and slightly domed. Leave the pies to cool in the tins, then dust with icing sugar before serving.
- Rum butter, if using: Cream the butter, sugar and rum with a little nutmeg or mixed spice until light and fluffy, then add a dollop to each pie.
FAQs
Why do the websites use more flaked almonds than the book?
In Everyday Winners they use 30g, while hairybikers.com and BBC Food both list 50g, with the main quantities matching. So I’ve stuck with the book, and I’d expect the extra 20g online just gives a thicker almond crust.
BBC Food ties its copy to their Go North series, and the rum butter appears there and on hairybikers.com. But the book version simply finishes with icing sugar.
Is the rum butter worth making?
It’s a big batch: 250g of unsalted butter, 200g of soft dark brown sugar and 8 to 10 tbsp of dark rum. Then it’s creamed with nutmeg or mixed spice, and by my sums it adds roughly 120 calories a pie if all 24 share it.
So I only make it for a crowd, and any left over goes on their suet Christmas pudding, which is my pairing rather than theirs. Or the icing sugar from the book is plenty.
How do these compare with lidded mince pies?
They’re lighter on pastry, and in Everyday Winners they hope these become “your new Christmas classic”. But by my estimate the almond frangipane still makes each one about 225 calories.
Their lidded orange and cranberry mince pies from Perfect Pies come out nearer 195 by my sums, in a bun tin with 10cm rounds. And those bake for 20 minutes against 15 to 17 here.
Which mincemeat works best here?
They write “Make your own mincemeat if you can” in Everyday Winners, pointing to the recipe at the back of the same book. That batch fills about three 450g jars, so one jar covers the 400g here with a little spare.
But it needs at least 2 weeks to mature, preferably a month, so start it early. And shop-bought is listed as fine too, which is the honest choice in a busy December.
How far ahead can I bake them?
Up to a week, because they keep that long in an airtight tin, and both the book and BBC Food agree they freeze well. So bake a batch in early December and freeze it, then take out what you need through the run-up.
And from the same Go North episode, their Christmas pudding trifle uses mango and pineapple instead of jelly.
