Mine Pie Cake

When I asked my husband what kind of birthday cake he wanted me to bake him this year, he said: “mince pie”! So I baked him a mincemeat flavoured cake topped with mini mince pies. This is best made a day in advance but can be made on the day if time is tight. Cake ingredients:

• 175g diary free margarine (I use Pure)
• 100g light muscovado sugar
• 3 eggs (or egg replacement if you want a vegan cake)
• 225g self-raising flour
• 450g mincemeat
• 2 tbsp brandy
• a healthy pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp allspice
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• Fondant icing
• buttercream or vanilla frosting

 Method:

1. Line 4 20 x 1cm cake tins and preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Gently beat in the eggs (or egg replacement if you want a vegan cake) one by one and mix through the mincemeat
4. Fold in the flour and spices.
5. Ladle the mixture (approx 1.5 ladles per tin) into the prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
6. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes before turning out.

While the cake is baking and cooling make your mini mince pies. Mince pie ingredients:

• 100g dairy free margarine
• pinch salt
• 155g plain flour
• 45ml water

Method:

1. Cut cold marg into flour and salt until it resembles crumbs
2. add water and combine until a pastry dough ball forms
3. roll out to 0.5cm  on a lightly floured surface
4. Stamp our rounds and smaller shaped toppers
5. Pre-bake the rounds in the mini muffin tin for 10 mins at 190 degrees
6. Remove from oven and add in a scant teaspoon of mincemeat
7. Place shaped topper of pastry in middle of pie
8. Bake in oven for another 10 mins
9. Remove and leave to cool in muffin tin

If you have any mincemeat remaining then add this in a  saucepan with a glut of bandy and cook at low temp until it has reduced to a thick paste. Assembling the cake:

1. Sandwich buttercream or vanilla frosting and dabs of the mincemeat paste between the cake layers leaving the top of the cake free.
2. Rough frost the outside and top layer of the cake with a vanilla or buttercream frosting.
3. Cover in fondant icing.
4. Cover the top in mini mince pies using a dab of frosting to make sure they stick to the fondant icing.
5. Ideally cool in fridge overnight so the frosting hardens under the mince pies.

Eat!