I dusted the top lightly with a little tapioca flour when they were still hot, or you could use icing sugar.

Ingredients

  • for the mincemeat:
  • 2 bramley apples (peeled and small diced)
  • 225 g organic coconut oil
  • 225 g sultanas
  • 225 g currants
  • 150 g dried apricots (finely chopped)
  • 250 g raisins
  • 125 g crystallised ginger (or cut mixed peel)
  • ½ cup maple or agave syrup
  • 2 oranges (grated zest and juice)
  • 50 g chopped almonds (toast very lightly first)
  • 4 tsp mixed spice
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 6 tblsp brandy
  • for the pastry:
  • 300 g rice flour
  • 55 g gram flour (flour made from ground chickpeas)
  • 100 g ground cashew nuts
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1 lemon (grated zest)
  • big pinch sea salt
  • 150g sunflower or olive oil margarine
  • 2 tblsp lemon juice
  • cold apple juice to bind
  • 55 g tapioca flour
  • 2 lemons (gratzed zest and juice)

Method

  • For the Mincemeat: Combine all ingredients except brandy, cover and leave overnight.
  • Put into a covered container in oven at 120°C (Gas 4) for three hours. Remove and allow to cool, stirring occasionally.
  • Stir in brandy when cool and pack in jars until ready to use. The flavour matures and it's even better after several months.
  • For the Pastry: In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, including the lemon zest. Add the margarine and work it into the dry ingredients with a fork or your fingertips to form a coarse meal. Add the lemon juice and mix in. Slowly drizzle in the cold apple juice, mixing until it comes together to form a dough. Form the dough into a ball and put it on a piece of parchment paper.
  • When ready to make the pies, preheat oven to 160°C and brush your tartlet tins with a little oil.
  • Roll the pastry out as thinly as possible between two sheets of parchment paper and cut into circles big enough to line your tartlet tins. I used a circular cookie cutter to do this.
  • You can either cut smaller circles to top with or else use a star cookie cutter to cut out little star shapes to top with. Put about a tablespoon of the mincemeat into each tart and top with the star or circle of pastry.
  • Bake for about 20 minutes. (I dusted the top lightly with a little tapioca flour when they were still hot, or you could use icing sugar).