Mincemeat frangipane tart - this delicious vegan tart is a great alternative to mince pies at Christmas!
Consisting of crisp orange shortcrust pastry, fruity mincemeat, vegan almond frangipane and apples this tart is full of festive flavour!
This vegan mincemeat frangipane tart is a great festive dessert option. It's a bit different to the usual mince pies, but is still full of Christmassy flavours.
You can't go wrong with the combination of crisp pastry, soft almondy frangipane and fruity, boozy mincemeat!
It is good served either warm or cold. Cold it makes a great mid morning or afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee; and warm it is perfect as a pudding with cream, ice cream or custard.
What Do I need To Make Mincemeat Frangipane Tart?:
Mincemeat: No, for anyone outside of the UK, this doesn't contain actual meat. It is a mixture of dried fruits, sugar, alcohol, fat and spices which is used to make mince pies at Christmas.
Lots of shop-bought mincemeat is vegan friendly, but do check the jar just in case as occasionally it may contain beef suet or butter. I used one from Morrison's.
You can also use home-made mincemeat.
Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour. Don't swap it for wholemeal. I haven't tested this gluten-free and you would need to find your own gluten-free pastry recipe, but I think that a plain gluten-free flour blend would work well in the frangipane.
Vegan butter: For the best results you really need to use a block butter/margarine, not the spreadable kind in a tub. Especially for the pastry. I use Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Butter.
Sugar: You will need both icing (powdered) sugar and either caster or granulated sugar. This mincemeat frangipane tart cannot be made with sweeteners or liquid sugars.
Vodka: Vodka is my (not-so) secret trick for crispy pastry. Because it has a lower water percentage than well, water; using a bit of vodka rather than water to bind the pastry makes for crispier pastry as the alcohol burns off when it cooks.
You can't taste it at all and you can absolutely use water instead if you prefer, but if you happen to have a bottle of vodka lurking in the cupboard I urge you to give it a try!
Ground almonds: This is what forms the base of the frangipane. I also add some to the pastry wich gives it a lovely crisp, flaky texture. I believe that in the US it would be called almond flour rather than ground almonds.
Cornflour (cornstarch): this helps to set the frangipane.
Milk: I recommend using soy milk as it has the highest protein content and is best for baking. Any kind of non-dairy milk will work however, but do go for unsweetened if possible.
Baking powder: Just a smidge in the frangipane to replace the lift that would usually be provided by the eggs.
Almond extract: Without it I don't think that the tart would taste almondy enough so don't omit it.
Apples: You need two medium eating apples. I use braeburn. You can omit the apple topping if you prefer.
Flaked almonds: This is optional but I like to scatter some flaked almonds over the tart before baking; mostly just to make it look nice, but also to provide some textural contrast to the soft filling.
Apricot jam: After baking I glaze the tart with a mixture of apricot jam and water which makes the tart lovely and shiny. This is totally optional though.
Orange zest: This is optional but I like to add the finely grated zest of an orange to the pastry for extra flavour.
How To Make Mincemeat Frangipane Tart:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
Start by making the pastry. Place the flour, ground almonds, icing sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix well.
Add the cold butter and rub it in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and no lumps of butter remain.
Add the cold vodka and mix to combine. Gradually add enough cold water to bring the pastry together into a ball. Shape the pastry into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface into a circle big enough to line a 25cm round tart tin. Press the pastry right into the corners then roll over the top with a rolling pin to trim off the excess.
Prick the base of the pastry shell all over with a fork then place it in the freezer for 20 minutes until solid. Meanwhile preheat the oven.
Line the pastry case with baking parchment or tin foil, then fill with baking beans or dried rice.
Bake for 20 minutes then remove the tin foil and baking beans and return the tart shell to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes until pale golden.
To make the frangipane, whisk together the ground almonds, plain flour, cornflour, baking powder and sugar.
Add the milk, melted butter and almond extract and whisk until smooth.
Spread a layer of mincemeat over the base of the pastry case then spread or pipe the frangipane over the top.
Arrange the apple slices on top of the frangipane and scatter over a handful of flaked almonds.
Bake the tart for 60-75 minutes, until the frangipane is set and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Top Tips:
All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup coversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
It is important to chill the pastry before rolling it out, otherwise it will be too soft and you will struggle to roll it.
For the best, crispy pastry, make sure that you don’t overwork it or let it get too warm. Freezing the tart shell prior to blind baking it helps to make the pastry crisp and stops it from shrinking too much.
The pastry can be made in advance and stored (well wrapped) in the fridge for up to 2 days. If it becomes too firm to roll out let it sit out at room temperature for ½ an hour before rolling.
This tart is best eaten on the day it is baked, but it will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. It can also be frozen.
If you want to save time you can use shop bought shortcrust pastry instead. Many are vegan friendly - Jus Roll pastry is vegan (apart from the 'all-butter' one).
Instead of the glaze you can simply dust the tart with some icing sugar.
You can leave off the apples if you prefer.
More Vegan Christmas Dessert Recipes:
- Berry and coconut steamed puddings
- Vegan Christmas pudding
- Vegan chocolate raspberry mousse cake
- Vegan steamed maple syrup pudding
- Vegan chocolate mousse
- Vegan steamed chocolate pudding
- Vegan chocolate orange pots
- Vegan tiramisu
- Starry mince pie tart
- No-bake chocolate ginger tart
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Mincemeat Frangipane Tart (Vegan)
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 50 g (1 ¾ oz) ground almonds
- 30 g (⅓ cup) icing (powdered) sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 130 g (½ cup + 1 Tablespoon) vegan block butter (NOT the spreadable kind. I use Naturli Vegan Block) cold and diced
- finely grated zest of 1 orange (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon cold vodka (or water)
Frangipane:
- 200 g (7 oz) ground almonds
- 60 g (½ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 40 g (4 packed Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 120 g (½ cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 160 g (⅔ cup) vegan butter melted
- 120 ml (½ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
To Assemble:
- 411 g jar (14 ½ oz) mincemeat
- 2 medium eating apples peeled, cored and sliced
- a handful flaked almonds
Glaze:
- 3 Tablespoons apricot jam
- 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- Start by making the pastry. Place the flour, ground almonds, icing sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix well.
- Add the cold, cubed butter and the orange zest (if using) and rub them in using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and no lumps of butter remain.
- Add the cold vodka (if using) and mix to combine. Gradually add enough cold water to bring the pastry together into a ball. Shape the pastry into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for about an hour until firm enough to roll out.
- Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface into a circle big enough to line a 25cm round tart tin. Press the pastry right into the corners then roll over the top of the tin with a rolling pin to trim off the excess.
- Prick the base of the pastry shell all over with a fork then place it in the freezer for 20 minutes until solid. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Line the pastry case with baking parchment or tin foil, pressing it right into the corners, then fill with baking beans or dried rice, making sure that the sides are propped up.
- Bake for 20 minutes then remove the tin foil and baking beans and return the tart shell to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes until very pale golden. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- To make the frangipane, whisk together the ground almonds, plain flour, cornflour, baking powder and sugar. Add the milk, melted butter and almond extract and whisk until smooth.
- Spread a layer of mincemeat over the base of the pastry case (I used the whole jar), then spread or pipe the frangipane over the top.
- Arrange the apple slices on top of the frangipane and scatter over a handful of flaked almonds.
- Bake the tart for 60-75 minutes, until the frangipane is set and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top starts to get too dark before the frangipane is baked you can loosely cover the tart with tin foil.
- Allow the tart to cool in the tin for about half an hour then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack.
- To make the glaze, place the apricot jam and the water in a small pan and heat until melted. Press the jam through a fine mesh sieve so that it is smooth.
- Gently brush the top of the tart with the jam. You can add a drop more water if it is too thick to brush. Allow the tart to cool before serving.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup coversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Helen
Everything that I love! Although I am not vegan I do prefer plant based meals and I use so many of your recipes because they are some of the best that I have found anywhere on the internet. In particular I love your fruit curds. Can you advise me on the ratio of ingredients for a grapefruit curd, please?