Christmas mince pies using local ingredients

Gluten free Christmas mince pies with pinot noir and cherries

These bite-sized, star-topped, Christmas mince pies made using local ingredients make a wonderful treat any time of the day. I use natural ingredients for a great taste that even children seem to love. Even better, the pastry and fruit mince mixture can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. You can make a tray of little pies and be eating them in less than 20 minutes.

Using Local Ingredients

Cherries

I once read a recipe for Christmas mince pies using fresh cranberries instead of dried ones. And being from the southern hemisphere, I immediately thought CHERRIES! And having gone down the path of thinking I would change cranberries for cherries, I started thinking about other local ingedients. I went over the regular recipe and looked for ways to make Christmas mince pies using local ingredients. They had to be instantly recgnisable as Christmas mince pies and somehow tasting just like home.

For the whole family

I did not set out to make these Christmas mince pies using local ingredients for children. My family do not like it if their favourite recipes are messed with. I am stuck with using a recipe as soon as it has been given the seal of approval. As a result I often use flavours they will probably go for right from the start. However, as I did not expect any of the children to like these Christmas mince pies, I was making them for the adults and used great tasting ingredients. Guess what? Everyone loves them and I feel like Christmas mince pies using local ingredients are a nutritious morning or afternoon tea.

The Non Negotiable Ingredients

Christmas mince pies definitely need dried fruit including sultanas, raisins and currants. Currants seem to be the special taste of Christmas and Easter, just think hot cross buns. Sultanas and raisins on their own just don’t cut it. The spices are really important too and I like vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves and nutmeg. See what I mean, I never thought children would go for these and I am talking three and five year olds. These spices are the imported ingredients and traditionally have been the mark of a special occassion.

The Local Ingredients

I have a few favourites for local ingredients including honey, pinot noir wine, and of course, cherries at Christmas time. I was given cherries in my Christmas stocking every year when I was a child. Cherries are the taste of Christmas day for me. Now I know it is Christmas time when I see the cherry stall on the side of the road. It is time to make a few jars of Christmas mince pie filling including local ingredients. This will always be a taste of Christmas at our cottage to share with my family.

The Christmas Fruit Mince Filling Using Local Ingredients

I usually make the pastry dough and then the fruit mince filling while the pastry is resting in the refridgerator. This part of the cooking smells wonderful, the wine, honey, and spices make the house smell like Christmas. It is easy as well, just measure everything out and put it in to the saucepan. I find it easy to slice up the cherries, it takes a little bit of time, but not as much as I thought it would and it is the only hands on part of the recipe. It needs to simmer for 20 minutes and then cool slighty. This can be the time to roll out the pastry or just store the cooked filling in a jar. It looks beautiful and can be kept in the refridgerator once cooled.

The Pastry

The pastry is important too. It has to be the perfect backdrop for all those strong, holiday flavours. And it has to be light enough to melt in the mouth while not falling apart in your hand. I have discovered two useful tips, firstly a small sized non stick tartlet pan tray is better than the larger tartlet sized ones. The larger ones just deliver too much pastry to fruit filling ratio and have been rejected here at the cottage. Secondly, I need to use a gluten free pastry at home, and this is light and short which works well for the Christmas mince pies. I make pretty star shaped tops for the pies. They look festive and the stars have slightly less pastry than a round top which seems to give the perfect balance.

Making the gluten free pastry

Weigh the dry ingredients in a small bowl and sift together. I just use a whisk to do this as I do not have a flour sifter and it is quick and saves another bowl for washing up.

Weigh the margarine or butter into a clean bowl, I use the same bowl for mixing the pastry dough from start to finish to keep it simple.

Then add the dry ingredients to the margarine or butter.

I use a fork to mix the ingredients together until it reaches a crumbly consistency.

Add the eggs, I was making a double recipe this time as the pastry can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. I add the vanilla with the eggs. I have also used grated orange zest for a delicious sweet pastry but it is not so popular in my family. Maybe next year? Then mix all the ingredients together using the fork and bring together with your hands to form a ball.

Assembling the Christmas Mince Pies Using Local Ingredients

The pastry is gluten free and different to work with so I use two sheets of baking parchment to roll out the dough. That way I do not need to add more flour and the pastry stays moist and short.

I have a collection of cookie cutters and this one cuts disks about the right size for the mini tartlet tray I have.

I cut out the disks and use a knife to lift the pastry. If it does not quite fit easily then I press the dough into shape making sure there are no holes in the pastry case and trim off any excess dough around the edge of the tartlet by running a knife over the top. The pastry is very forgiving. I find it is better if it is not too thick so that the bite sized Christmas mince pie is not just a mouthful of pastry but a case of delicious filling too.

I put the filling into the cases making sure none of the juice runs over the top of the pastry. This way the pies won’t stick to the tray and will lift out easily. Then cut out a little star to place on top. That is it, Christmas mice pies using local ingredients all ready to bake.

I have also written a post just for the pastry if you want to look at that separately https://mynaturalcottage.com/2022/07/20/light-and-easy-gluten-free-sweet-short-pastry-recipe/ or use the pastry to make a large tart or pie like pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin pie is a great Christmas dessert too, just have a look https://mynaturalcottage.com/2022/11/29/best-ever-gluten-free-homemade-pumpkin-pie/

The recipe for Gluten Free Christmas Mince Pies Using Local Ingredients