Frangipane Cranberry Mince Meat Cake
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
There is something wonderfully satisfying about using up leftovers in an unexpected way. After Christmas I found myself with a jar of Nigella Lawson’s homemade mincemeat sitting in my fridge, fragrant with spices and dried fruit. Rather than making yet another mince pie, I started wondering – what if I paired it with frangipane?
The result was this beautiful tart – Italy meets Great Britain on a cold winter’s day. Two very different culinary traditions coming together in the most harmonious way.
Serve warm with clotted cream or crème fraîche and a good cup of coffee. Cold weather comfort at its very best.
12
servings30
minutes1
hour30
minutes2
hoursIngredients
200 gr. plain flour
50 gr. ground almonds
140 gr. unsalted butter, chopped in cubes
zest of 1 orange
50 gr. caster sugar
1 egg yolk plus 1tsp cold water
- Filling
125 gr. butter
125 gr. caster sugar
125 gr. ground almonds
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 eggs beaten
400 gr. Cranberry Mince Meat
50 gr. flaked almonds
Directions
- Place the flour, ground almonds, butter and orange zest in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and cold water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 23cm round tin or a long rectangular tin and dust with flour. Roll out the dough to fit your tin and line it carefully. Place a sheet of baking paper over the pastry, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Prepare the filling: beat the butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the ground almonds and almond extract and mix well. Add the beaten eggs and combine until smooth.
- Spread the cranberry mincemeat evenly over the pastry base, then spoon the frangipane filling on top and smooth it out. Scatter with flaked almonds. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-40 minutes, checking after 20 minutes — if the top is browning too quickly, loosely cover with foil. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out.
Notes
- For the cranberry mincemeat I use Nigella Lawson’s recipe – you can find it here https://www.nigella.com/recipes/star-topped-mince-pies
- I use a long fluted tart tin for this https://amzn.to/42gTFWC
