Christmas Fruit Mince Pie Recipe

These days there are dozens of recipes online, but having a recipe that’s been tested, tried and proven — a genuine word-of-mouth recommendation — is best. This Christmas, our chef Geoff has done just that: a Christmas fruit mince pie recipe that will make your home smell wonderful. 

This recipe is ideal to make for an office Christmas party or an afternoon tea treat — the pies can be served warm or cold and can be made up to a week ahead of time.

How to make Christmas fruit mince pies

This fruit mince pie recipe can be prepared in two stages, allowing you to break up time in the kitchen. Making the fruit mince well in advance of assembling the pies allows the flavours to develop for a rich and delicious pie centre.

Ingredients

Fruit Mince Filling 
1kg apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
250g currants 
250g sultanas 
250g dried apricots, chopped 
200g mixed fruit peel 
200g glacé cherries 
250g vegetarian suet or coconut oil 
500g caster sugar 
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup brandy

Pastry
240g plain flour
50g icing sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
120g cold butter, cut into cubes
1 egg, whisked
1 tablespoon milk (or use water)

Method: 

Making the fruit mince filling three days in advance allows the flavours to develop — but any sitting time will help the apple juice and brandy to soften and plump the dried fruit, intensifying the flavours. The sugar and brandy act as preservatives, and this recipe allows for a couple of batches of pies, so explore how the flavours develop in the second batch!

If in a hurry, the filling can be assembled into the pastry right away. 

How to make the fruit mince filling:

1. In a food processor – add the peeled, cored and roughly chopped apples. Blitz until they form a chunky paste then transfer to a large mixing bowl. 
2. In a couple of batches, add the remainder of the fruit, spices, sugar salt and suet or coconut oil in the processor and blitz to chop and mix them all up. Transfer to the mixing bowl with the apples. 
3. Pour in the brandy and give everything a very good mix with a large wooden spoon or spatula. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 3 days, stirring every day.

How to make the pastry

If you are short on time, you can use ready-made shortcut pastry. Otherwise, this method yields a soft, delicious homemade pastry that perfectly complements the fruit mince filling. 

1. In a food processor – add the flour, baking powder, icing sugar and salt to the bowl of your food processor and pulse a couple of times, to mix everything together. 
2. Add the cold butter and pulse again. The mixture will look like floury breadcrumbs. 
3. Whisk the egg and milk together in a cup, then with the motor running, pour the mixture into the food processor until the pastry starts to come together. It’ll start looking like little yellow beads. At this point, it’s ready.
4. Let it rest. Lightly flour a clean, flat surface and transfer the pastry onto it. Bring it together with your hands into a rough circle. Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, then pop it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

The pastry will keep for a week in the fridge, so you can make it ahead of time. You can also freeze the pastry, make sure it is tightly wrapped and sealed before freezing. 

How to assemble the fruit mince pies  

To serve a crowd, making mini-muffin tin pies creates a lot more serves, but you can use a regular muffin tin for larger pies. Larger pies will need a longer cooking time, so check them at 25 minutes to see how they look — when ready, the pastry will be golden brown. 

1. Roll out the pastry. When you’re ready to make your pies, heat your oven to 200ºC. 
2. Grease your mini muffin tins. 
3. Prepare two pieces of baking paper, about 50cm x 50cm. Get the pastry out of the fridge and cut it in half. Place one half in the middle of one sheet of baking paper, then rewrap the other half in plastic wrap in put back in the fridge. 
4. Place the other sheet of baking paper on top of the pastry, then smack down on it with a rolling pin to help flatten in. Roll the pastry out thinly – about 5mm. Peel back the top layer of baking paper, then using a small cookie cutter (or the rim of a small glass), cut out circles a little larger than your muffin tin. 
5. Carefully peel them off the baking paper, and press into the lined tin. Don’t worry if the pastry tears, you can just patch it up with more pastry.
6. Fill the pies – Once you’ve lined the tin with pastry cases, spoon in a heaped teaspoon of the fruit mince into the cases. Use the back of your spoon to press the filling down into the cases.
7. Top the pies – Bundle up your pastry scraps, then re-roll them using the baking paper. Use a small star cutter to cut out little star shapes or any shape you like to top the pies.
8. Bake the pies – Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until the pies look golden brown and smell unbelievable. 
9. Remove the tin from the oven and let the pies sit in the tin for about 10 minutes before carefully removing them and transferring them to a wire rack to cool fully. Use a sieve to dust with icing sugar, and serve.

The assembled fruit mince pies will keep well for a week in an airtight container at room temperature (note that the pastry will soften a little). 

Customise these Christmas mince pies to make them your own

The dried fruits listed here can be substituted for any other dried fruit on hand, or to suit preferred flavours. Try using dates instead of currents, and cranberries or even mango can replace the glace cherries for an Aussie twist. Just be sure to use the same amount of replacement dried fruit to keep the recipe balanced.

Likewise, the almonds can be swapped out for walnuts. pistachios, cashews or hazelnuts — just make sure the nuts are unsalted. And you don’t have to use brandy — for a non-alcoholic version, replace the brandy apple juice. 

Spread Christmas cheer with this fruit mince pie recipe

We hope you enjoy this recipe and have the chance to share it with your family, friends and colleagues!  

Christmas fruit mince pies can be served just as they are or with a little dollop of cream —  warm or at room temperature to accommodate different settings and weather. Enjoy!