Mincemeat Tart
Mincemeat is a spiced fruit preserve that contains no meat, and this version makes enough to keep in the refrigerator for up to a year. Raisins, currants, candied peel, tart green apples and beef suet are ground together, then loosened with brandy or rum. Because the filling is made ahead, assembling small tarts at Christmas is quick work. The name dates from when "meat" meant any food.
Instructions
Wash and dry the currants and set them aside. Put the citron, orange peel, lemon rind, raisins, apples and suet through a meat grinder fitted with the coarse blade.
Stir the currants, brandy or rum and spices into the ground mixture. Store the mincemeat in a tightly covered plastic container in the refrigerator, never the freezer, for up to 1 year.
Let the pastry warm to almost room temperature, then roll it out on a floured board. Cut tart shells with a doughnut cutter with the center removed or a 2½ inch round cutter, and press them gently into 1½-inch (4 cm) tart pans.
Fill each shell with mincemeat. Cut a 1-inch (2.5 cm) round of pastry with the doughnut hole cutter, optionally press a pattern into it, and set it on top of the filling.
Brush the pastry lids lightly with milk, or with milk mixed with beaten egg. Bake at 425 °F (220 °C) for about 20 minutes, until the edges of the pastry are lightly browned.
Cool the tarts on a wire rack and dust them with icing sugar.
Make it personal.
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