Christmas Recipes: Cakes & Tarts. No.1 of 7 - Mincemeat & Marzipan Tart

Ho Ho Ho! Religion and faith plays an important part in the Christmas festivities, with families attending mass together and watching the Pope appear on his famous balcony on Christmas Day.

Christmas recipe serves: 8 calories per serving: 780 preparation time: 1 hour and chilling cooking time: 45 minutes suitable for freezing after step 4

Christmas recipe ingredients:

• salt, a pinch
• orange, grated rind and juice from a quarter
• butter, 150 g (5 oz)
• eggs, 2
• marzipan, white almond 250 g (9 oz)
• caster sugar
• double cream, 300 ml (10 fl oz)

Fruity Mincemeat:

• lemon, grated rind and juice from 1
• raisins/sultanas, 125 g (4 oz) of each
• currants & dried peaches (or apricots, pears),125 g (4 oz) of each
• mixed spice, 1.25 ml (quarter tsp)
• sugar, light brown 100 g (3.5 oz)
• brandy, 100 ml (4 fl oz)
• eating apples, 200 g (7 oz)
• white grapes, seedless 125 g (4 oz)

Ho Ho Ho! Although traditional children had to wait until January 6th, more families are allowing them to open their presents on Christmas Day. However, there are more celebrations to come.

Christmas recipe instructions:

1. Mincemeat: Combine the brandy, brown sugar, mixed spice, dried fruit, and lemon rind with juice. Add cubed apple and halved grapes. Mix and keep at about 5 degrees centigrade for a minimum of a day.
2. Tart: Use a food processor to mix the flour and salt for a few seconds. Throw in the butter and orange rind and produce a granular mixture. Add a mixture of beaten eggs (30 ml, 2 tbsp) and orange juice (30 ml, 2 tbsp) and process under a consitent mixture has formed. Remove and knead on a floured surface before colling for half an hour.
   Ho Ho Ho! You can vary this basic dough to make a wide variety of Christmas cookie recipes. Add other flavorings like maple, ginger or cinnamon.
3. Line a 9 inch tart tin with rolled pastry and heat (having line with greaseproof paper and baking beans) at gas mark 6 (200 degrees centigrade, 400 F) for quarter of an hour. Remove the paper and baking beans, heat for another 5 minutes, brush with beaten egg, heat for another 2 minutes.
4. Remove and keep the liquid from the mincemeat, add diced marzipan (50 g, 2 oz) and place in the pastry case. Add criss-cross strips of rolled marzipan on top, brush with beaten egg and coat with sugar. Cook until the marzipan is golden brown (abut 20 minutes). Leave for 10 minutes then cool.
5. To serve: Whip the kept mincemeat juice with the cream and serve with the warm tart.

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