Not-Mince-Pie Pie

Honey buttered apples and pears baked in pine nut and candied peel frangipane: a big Christmas tart recipe that's just the right side of different.

Not-mince-pie Pie (which is really a tart)

Apparently, not everyone likes mince pies

I know. It’s hard to believe but there you go. Anyway, it gives me an excuse to experiment, and in doing so I have found an alternative that ticks all the Christmas boxes without including mincemeat.

Bringing in the orchard

The best mincemeat, I think, includes grated apples or pears so I’ve featured them, chunky and buttered, in this Not-Mince-Pie Pie.

I would love to paint a romantic picture of me swanning out to the shed where I had shelves of apples and pears neatly stored in straw after their autumn harvest. But, as you will know by now, this is not Country Living.

I ate all my apples by November. Partly because there weren’t that many (plenty for me, but not enough store) and partly because if I had attempted to store them, the shed mice (which are legion) would have polished them off by now. And I didn’t even grow pears (see the essay in From the Veg Patch for why).

But including apples and pears here not only makes for a fresher, lighter pie (heaviness being, I’m told, the main criticism of mince pies), but also reminds me of livelier times in the garden as I look out on its dormant and bedraggled state today.

Outtake

Other pies on the same theme

Last year, as well as options for a classic mince pie and a speedy one, I wrote about my all time favourite mincemeat which, of course, features vegetables. Parsnip, carrot and pumpkin to be precise. But thing of it as the love-child of carrot cake and mincemeat and it won’t sound nearly so odd. You can find the recipes for all three (free to read) here:

Three Mince Pies (& a surprise filling)

CHRISTMAS HOURS: a little housekeeping before I go. This is my last post before Christmas, but I’ll be scheduling a Betwixtmas Double Bill so you won’t go hungry. And I’ve a VERY special Christmas pressie for to paid subscribers. In the meantime, here’s a taster of what to expect between now and the New Year.

Coming up over Christmas

Buttered orchard fruit & candied peel tart (or not-mince-pie pie)

This tart was inspired by a type of traditional Italian tart that mixes pine nuts and candied peel into a frangipane for a tart filling. I’ve dialled up the citrus flavours and added soft buttered apples and pears. All of which makes it a hit for people who haven’t, inexplicably, taken to mincemeat. A note on the candied peel – I must insist, not the tubs of gummy wax you buy in the supermarket please; look online for ‘whole mixed candied peel’ (like this) and chop as needed.

Serves 6-8

• 20g salted butter

• 1 apple, cored but not peeled and cut into eights

• 1 pear, ditto

• 1 tbsp runny honey

• 50g pine nuts

For the pastry (based on

Yotam Ottolenghi

’s bulletproof recipe):