I just love using mincemeat during the Christmas season. It's one of my favorite ingredients and I am sure I go through several jars. Each year I try to do something different with it if I can. There has been a photo circulating on the net and Pinterest over the past couple of months of a nutella bread which is layered and twisted and I got to thinking that the same thing done with mincemeat would be really nice.
I decided early on though that I would use puff pastry instead of bread dough however, because I wanted these to be like mince pies. I also decided that if they were going to work properly I would have to puree the mincemeat a bit so that it wasn't too lumpy.
As you can see they turned out really pretty. Golden on the edges . . . lovely to look at . . . flakey and sweet and spiced just nicely. I created a thin icing, lightly flavoured with cinnamon (if you want) to drizzle over top once baked and I sprinkled them with some white sparkle sprinkles.
I was really pleased with how they turned out! They tasted really nice as well. I think they were just that little bit different than the usual mince pies! In short, I fell in love with them. Very Festive. And no . . . they were not as fiddly as they look to make. Trust me.
*Mincemeat Snowflakes*
Makes 8Printable Recipe
Created on a whim. Pretty. Delicious. Festive. Easy.
1 small jar of your favorite kind of mince meat2 sheets of all butter ready roll puff pastry
To finish:130g icing sugar, sifted (1 cup)
milksparkle sprinkles
Preheat your oven to 200*C/400*F/gas mark 6. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment paper.
Blitz the mincemeat in a food processor until the particles in it are very small. Almost, but not quite a paste.
Cut 16 (4 inch) circles from your sheets of puff pastry. Place 8 on the baking sheet. Spread each with a heaped TBS of the mincemeat. Place the remaining 8 circles on top and press down lightly. Make four equal cuts almost, but not quite to the middle of the circle, using a very sharp knife and cutting all the way through. You will want to leave at least 1/2 inch in the centres, uncut. Cut again evenly in between the four first cuts so you now have 8 equal cuts. Twist each section in the same direction without pulling them off and keeping the pastry intact. It's not hard to do. Just persevere. You will only get about two twists maxium from each section.
Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and puffed.Remove from the oven and allow to sit for just a minute or two before scooping off onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Whisk together the icing sugar and enough milk to give you a thick drizzle icing.
You can flavor it with a bit of cinnamon if you like. Drizzle this over top of the snowflakes and sprinkle with the sparkle sprinkles. Store in an airtight container. Will keep several days.