Vegan Viennese Whirl Mince Pies
Vegan viennese whirl mince pies – these delicious vegan mince pies are a wonderful twist on the classic, with a crumbly, buttery, melt-in-the-mouth viennese whirl topping instead of the usual pastry lid.
Servings 12 mince pies
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp icing (powdered) sugar
- finely grated zest of ½ an orange (optional)
- 115 g (1 stick) vegan block butter/margarine (NOT the spreadable kind. I use Naturli vegan block) cold and diced
- 1 Tbsp cold vodka (or water)
- about 1 Tbsp ice cold water
Viennese Whirl Topping:
- 150 g (⅔ cup) vegan block butter/margarine (NOT the spreadable kind. I use Naturli vegan block) very soft
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 20 g (2 Tbsp) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 50 g (½ cup) icing (powdered) sugar
To Assemble:
- 1 approx 400g jar mincemeat (or use homemade)
- icing sugar for dusting
- a mince pie/bun tin
Instructions
- Start by making the pastry. Place the plain flour, icing sugar, salt and grated orange zest in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the cold, diced vegan block butter/margarine.
- Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until no lumps of butter remain and the mixture resembles coarse sand. You can also blitz it in a food processor if you prefer.
- Mix in the cold vodka, then gradually add enough ice cold water to bring the pastry together into a ball. Shape it into a disc (don't knead it!), wrap it well and refrigerate for at least half an hour until firm. At this point it can be kept refrigerated for up to two days.
- To make the viennese whirl topping, whisk the softened vegan block butter with an electric mixer until it is very soft indeed, then whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Sift in the plain flour, cornflour and icing sugar. Stir with a spatula until it is mixed in then continue to whisk with the electric mixer until you have a smooth, pipeable paste. It should be a stiff buttercream consistency.
- If it is too firm it means that the butter is too cold so pop the bowl in a warm spot for a bit then whisk again.
- Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Lightly grease a 12 hole mince pie tin/ bun tin.
- Thinly roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface. Use a 7cm (2 ¾in) round cutter to cut out 12 discs of pastry and press them into the bun tin. (The exact size of cutter you need may vary depending on your tin).
- Fill each pastry case with a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat. Don’t overfill them as they will boil over.
- Pipe a swirl of the viennese whirl topping on top of each one. Don’t go right up to the edge as it will spread a bit in the oven. If the mixture is hard to pipe, use the warmth of your hands to warm up the piping bag to soften it.
- Place the tray of mince pies in the fridge for at least half an hour until the topping is firm. This helps the swirls hold their shape in the oven so don’t skip it. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.
- Bake the chilled mince pies for about 20 minutes until they are pale golden.
- Leave them to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. You may need to use a knife to loosen any boiled over mincemeat so they don’t get stuck in the tin.
- Once the mince pies have cooled, dust them with icing sugar before serving.
Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- For the pastry and viennese whirl topping it is important to use a vegan block butter/margarine – the kind that comes in a foil wrapped block, NOT the spreadable kind in a tub which has too high a water content for baking. I use Naturli Vegan Block but Flora, Stork, Vitalite or Tormor blocks are also fine (not the tub versions).
- When you are making the pastry try and keep everything as cold as possible – butter straight out of the fridge and ice cold vodka/water to bind it. If the pastry gets too warm it can end up being tough.
- The pastry can be made up to two days before baking the mince pies and stored, well wrapped, in the fridge. You may need to let it sit at room temperature for half an hour before rolling it out if it gets too firm.
- The butter for the Viennese whirl topping needs to be very soft, so take it out of the fridge the night before baking if possible. Conversely, the butter for the pastry needs to be very cold, so keep that one in the fridge!
- The viennese whirl topping needs to be a stiff buttercream consistency so that it is pipeable. If you are struggling to pipe it that means that it is too cold, NOT that it needs more liquid. If it is too stiff, pop the bowl in a warm spot for a few minutes, or use the warmth of your hands to warm up the piping bag.
- You will need a 12 hole mince pie/bun tin.