Santa’s Surprise
Santa’s Surprise tarts are something we made in the bakery around Christmas time for many, many years. The customers would often ask “What’s in them”? But we always replied “Sorry, that’s the surprise”, even so, we sold hundreds over the festive season.
They are actually a twist on the traditional mince pie, where instead of the usual pastry lid, we added a generous topping of Frangipane and a sprinkling of sliced almonds. In fact you can can lots of fun with your guests over Christmas by doing what we did and not giving away the surprise element
You can see my Video Tutorial here:
You can of course use shop bought mincemeat or if you have the time make your own. In this recipe and also in the video I have used shop bought mincemeat but with a little addition of my own just to make it a little bit special.
Santa's Surprise (Frangipane Topped Mince Pies)
Adjust Serving Size
PLEASE NOTE: You can now adjust the number of servings on the recipe below. or on the Print Menu option.
Ingredients
For the Sweet Pastry
- 375 g plain flour
- 250 g unsalted butter softened
- 125 g sugar caster
- 1 medium egg
For the filling
- 400 g mincemeat this is approximately 1 jar
- 1 medium eating apple cored, peeled and diced small
- 2 tblsp orange juice
- zest of one orange
For the Topping
- 100 g butter softened
- 100 g sugar caster
- 40 g plain flour
- 60 g ground almonds
- 2 large eggs beaten
- flaked almonds to decorate
DISCLAIMER
I recommend using the Metric measurements (instead of cups & spoons) for more accuracy and better results.
Instructions
- Assemble as for normal Mince Pies, except instead of a pastry lid top with the frangipane mixture. Any problems, you can always view my video tutorial.
Category: Baking, British, Cakes, Pastries & Biscuits, Christmas, Cuisine, Recipes, Teatime Treats, Snacks, Party Food, Videos
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Hello again Ray,
Thanks for your feedback it’s always good to hear this. Also a big thank you to your dear Wife for her approval too.
Hello again from Perth in Australia.
though Christmas has been and gone I had a jar of fruit mince given to me so I made this recipe. The pastry tastes great and has a lovely texture..The Frangipane just finishes them off nicely . My wife is gorging on one as I write.and has given it the thumbs up
regards
Ray Clements
Your most welcome Carol, thank you for your feedback.
Thank you for this beautiful recipe, its amazing.
Hi Graham,
Thanks very much for the feedback, always nice to hear. I also wish you a very Merry Christmas too.
Finally got round to making this today.i make my own mincemeat and used a sweet pastry which includes lemon zest. I also made it as a traybake
Lovely recipe. The frangipane topping works very well with the mincemeat
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas
Hi there, you’re very welcome and thank you for the feedback, it’s always good to hear something positive. Thanks also for the 5 star rating too.
Tastes divine. The pastry was a joy to work with (re-rolled beautifully), and the texture when eating is very satisfying. Another winner Mr Paul! Thank you.