Christmas is not complete without some homemade mince pies to enjoy with nice cup of tea or coffee. Our version of mince pies comes with a twist as we are adding to the mince filling an espresso or two to give them a deep coffee flavour. To follow is the recipe for our Vegan Christmas Coffee Mince Pies.
Index:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. INGREDIENTS
3. PREPARATION
4. SUGGESTIONS
1. INTRODUCTION
A little bit of History, the early mince pie was known by several names, including "mutton pie", "shrid pie" and "Christmas pie". Typically its ingredients were a mixture of minced meat, suet, a range of fruits, and spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. This pie dates back to the 18th Century when the Tudors ruled England, so with such a long standing history, no wonder the mince pie recipe is one of the oldest in England and it is a very popular treat over the Christmas period in English and its current and past colonies.
PREPARATION: 40 minutes
COOKING: 20 minutes
DIFFICULTY: low
PORTIONS: for 15 people
COST: medium
2. INGREDIENTS
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2 tbsp ground chia or flaxseeds + 4 tbsp water
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100g (3.5 oz) Regular oats + 1 tsp ground coffee
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50g (1.7 oz) ground almonds
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60g (2 oz) spelt/buckwheat/plain flour
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A pinch of salt
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2 tbsp melted coconut oil or vegan butter/margarine (plus extra for greasing)
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3 tbsp plant-based milk
For the filling:
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200g (7 oz) mixed dried fruits, chopped small if needed
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1 tsp vanilla essence
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1 tsp cinnamon
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½ tsp mixed spice
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1 tsp Sublime Napoli espresso powder
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75ml (2.5 fl oz) water
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10g (0.3 oz) ground almonds
3. PREPARATION
Make the filling: add the mixed dried fruits, vanilla, cinnamon, mixed spice, coffee/espresso and water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer over a gentle heat with a lid on for 10 minutes until plump and juicy. Stir in the ground almonds. Leave to one side.
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/355°F/Gas 4 and grease 12-15 small cupcake holes with coconut oil or vegan butter/margarine.
Make the pastry: stir together the ground chia or flaxseeds and water and leave to one side to form a gel. Blitz the oats (and coffee, if using) to a fine flour and add to a bowl with the ground almonds, flour and salt. Stir in the melted coconut oil or vegan butter/margarine, plant-based milk and chia seed gel. Bring to a dough.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to ½ cm thick. Cut out 12 bases and 12 star or regular tops, you may need to re-roll the scraps of pastry and continue to make up to 15 pies.
Gently place each round base into the greased cupcake holes, fill with 1 heaped teaspoon of mincemeat and press on the star top. Brush the tops lightly with melted coconut oil/vegan butter/margarine and bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown and crisping on top.
4. SUGGESTIONS
Allow to cool and lift gently out of the tins. Serve dusted with icing sugar.
Brits typically eat a mince pie cold and accompany it with a glass of hot mulled wine or a hot cup of tea, however, mince pies can also be served warm with some whipped cream on top.
For those of you who loves ice-cream, they can also be served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top!
If you liked this recipe, then follow our blog to discover our next coffee treat.
Check this recipe out: Chocolate & Coffee Christmas Log