Tropical fruit mince for xmas tarts??

donna23, Jul 31, 7:36pm
A few years ago I made a "tropical" fruit mince for xmas tarts, there was dried mango, apple, pineapple, apricots in the mix, it was light coloured, had galliano in it , was a HUGE hit and I have lost recipe in a house shift. Does anyone have anything similar to what I have described, thanks

neele1, Jul 31, 7:53pm
bumping because it sounds nice

cookessentials, Jul 31, 10:55pm
Made this at Christmas, but it had vanilla vodka in it. It was hard not to eat it before it got into the tarts!

cookessentials, Jul 31, 10:57pm
Courtesy of E Cook.
VANILLA FRUIT MINCE TARTS

INGREDIENTS

½ cup sugar
1 soft vanilla pod, diced
200 grams dried nectarines, chopped
200 grams tropical fruit mix
100 grams butter, chilled and diced
¼ cup vanilla vodka or Galliano
75 grams marzipan
1 egg yolk
2 tblsp water

Rich Short Pastry
1½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
150 grams butter, chilled and diced
2 egg yolks
1-2 tblsp chilled water


To ensure the vanilla flavour comes through, make this fruit mince a week or two in advance and refrigerate.

METHOD

1.Place sugar and vanilla pod in a food processor and process until the vanilla is finely ground. Add the nectarines, tropical fruit mix and butter, and pulse to make a finely chopped mixture. Pour in the vodka and pulse to mix.

2.Transfer to a sterilised jar, screw on lid and refrigerate until ready to use.

3.To make tarts, roll out the pastry to 3mm thickness on a lightly floured board. Cut out rounds large enough to fit 24 mini muffin tins (or 12 large) and press the circles into the tins. Knead leftover pastry together; leave to rest.

4.Cut the marzipan into 12 x 2mm-thick slices and cut each in half. Place a half at the base of each tart. Fill the tarts with plenty of fruit mince; you will use about half the recipe above.

5.Re-roll the remaining rested pastry out to 3mm thick and cut into small rounds to make tart lids. Make an egg glaze by beating the egg yolk with the water, then brush the underside of each lid with glaze and place on top of the tarts, pressing the edges together. Decorate with remaining pastry scraps if wished. Brush pastry tops with glaze. Bake at 180ºC for 15-18 minutes or until well golden and cooked.

Rich short pastry

1.Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Using a knife, cut in the egg yolks and sufficient water until the pastry begins to form large clumps. It should hold together when a small portion is gathered in the hand and pressed.

2.Turn out the dough and bring together. Wrap in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for 1 hour before using.

3.Alternatively, to make this pastry using a food processor, place the flour, salt and butter into a processor that's fitted with a metal blade and process until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Pulse in the egg yolks and sufficient water until the mixture forms small moist balls of dough. Sufficient water has been added when you can gather a small amount of the mixture in your hand and press it together to form a larger mass that holds its shape.

4.Turn out and bring the pastry together, kneading only lightly. Wrap in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for 1 hour before using.

donna23, Aug 1, 12:39am
Thanks cookessentials, your recipe is very close to what I had, mine didn't have vanilla pod or marzipan in it but yours does sound good, thanks

cookessentials, Aug 1, 2:13am
You are welcome...a customer put me on to this recipe and it is delicious. The vanilla vodka makes it really tasty as does the marzipan. If you can get the Odense marzipan, use it as it is delicious.

indy95, Aug 1, 2:17am
I made mince pies last Christmas using a tropical fruit mix and a recipe which is pretty close to the one cookessentials posted and they were absolutely delicious.

donna23, Aug 1, 3:25am
indy95, do you still have your recipe??

juliewn, Aug 1, 11:53am
I place a thickish slice of marzipan on top of the fruit mince, then cover it with the pastry top, when making mince tarts.. it kinda caramelises.. and tastes great..

indy95, Aug 2, 5:05am
Donna23, unfortunately I don't think I have. I think I got it from a "foodie" magazine which I didn't keep. If I come across it or something similar I will certainly post it. Maybe you could check out Google or the Christmas thread in here.