Under the lattice of Hairy Bikers mincemeat tart, 500g of mincemeat hides a disc of marzipan, all in an almond pastry case. So the British Classics version serves 6 to 8 in about 1½ hours by my timings, at near 700 calories a slice for 8.
They love a mince pie but call this lattice tart “even better”, since “the surprise disc of marzipan inside” makes it special. And the pastry uses the same 150g each of flour, almonds, sugar and butter as their Big Book of Baking Linzer torte.
A hot baking tray under a metal tin is their answer to a pale base, so the tray heats up with the oven. And they’re clear about the tin as well, saying to use metal rather than ceramic “so the underside cooks well”.
Hairy Bikers Mincemeat Tart
Description
Ground almond shortcrust lines a flan tin, then a rolled round of marzipan goes in with mincemeat spread over it. Next come pastry strips or star shapes on top, a brush of milk and half an hour’s baking, with icing sugar to finish.
Ingredients
For the pastry
For the filling
To finish
Instructions
- Make the pastry: Whizz the flour, almonds, sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Then add a pinch of salt and the egg and process again until it forms a ball of dough.
- Chill: The dough will be very soft, so wrap it in cling film and chill it well. But no time is given, so I’d allow at least 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven: Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4, with a baking tray inside to heat up.
- Line the tin: Divide the pastry into one-third and two-thirds. Then roll out the larger piece on a floured surface and line a 25cm metal flan tin.
- Add the filling: Roll the marzipan out on more flour into a round that fits inside the pastry, then cover it with the mincemeat.
- Top it: Roll out the rest of the pastry and cut it into strips for a lattice, or cut out stars to cover most of the mincemeat. Then brush the pastry with milk.
- Bake: Put the tart on the hot baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.
- Serve: Dust with icing sugar and serve hot or cold, with some cream.
FAQs
What is a Linzer torte, and how is theirs different?
It’s an Austrian tart named after the city of Linz, with a crumbly pastry base, a jam filling and a lattice top. And in the Big Book of Baking they call theirs “a sort of posh jam tart really”. And they note it’s often said to be the oldest cake in the world.
That one adds a good pinch of cinnamon to the pastry, then spreads 200g of raspberry jam in a 24cm tin. So this British Classics tart keeps the same 150g base quantities without the cinnamon, but swaps the jam for marzipan and mincemeat.
How is the Perfect Pies mincemeat lattice pie different?
It’s a fuller, plainer pie, with two 410g jars of mincemeat in citrus shortcrust made from 250g of flour and 150g of butter. Then 150g of the dough is kept back for 1cm strips, and it bakes on a hot tray at 200°C for 30 to 35 minutes.
They say “there’s more mincemeat than crust here”, and it serves 8 to 10 with a jug of homemade custard. But there’s no almond or marzipan in it, so for a richer slice the British Classics tart is the one I’d make.
Can you use homemade mincemeat?
Yes, the recipe simply asks for 500g, so it works with a jar from the shop or their Brilliant Bakes mincemeat recipe. That batch makes about three 450g jars, so one tart takes a little more than one of them.
If you’re making the mincemeat yourself, start it at least 2 weeks ahead, though they prefer a month to mature. And the same jars will also fill a batch of 24 of their open-topped frangipane mince pies, which use up to 400g. Or for a Christmas party, 4 heaped tablespoons and 200g of grated marzipan make about 28 of their puff pastry mincemeat twists.
Why is the pastry so hard to handle?
With equal weights of almonds, sugar and butter to flour, it’s a rich pastry, and they warn that the dough “will be very soft”. So it has to be chilled well, and they dust the work surface with flour for the pastry and the marzipan.
If the strips keep breaking, I’d switch to the book’s other option, stars or other shapes covering most of the mincemeat. Or I’d chill the strips on a tray for a few minutes before lifting them, which is my own tip rather than theirs.
What do you serve with it?
They serve it hot or cold with some cream, after a dusting of icing sugar. Since it’s fine cold, I’d bake it earlier in the day, though there’s no storage time in the recipe, so that’s my suggestion.
If you like almond with jam rather than mincemeat, their raspberry Bakewell tart pairs an almond shortcrust with a ground almond filling. Or for single portions, their orange and cranberry mince pies come from Perfect Pies.
