Cranberry and Almond Viennese Whirl Mince Pies

These cranberry and almond viennese whirl mince pies were mainly baked so I could take part in the Sunday Baking Club’s Technical Challenge Week last Sunday, which had the theme of Mince Pies. You can find the Sunday Baking Club here and on Twitter @SundayBakeClub.

Baking fans across the country bake to the theme on a Sunday and then share pictures of their bakes on Twitter. The best ten are chosen by the Sunday Baking Club, and then votes are cast to choose who wins the Golden Spoon!

I’ve never made Viennese whirl biscuits before but I’ve seen mince pies topped with Viennese whirls and thought they looked great so decided to try them out. The mincemeat I used was Cranberry Mincemeat from the Waitrose Christmas range. It has a lovely red colour and tastes wonderful, and is ideal to give a bit of a twist to your mince pies. I added some French almond extract to the Viennese whirl mixture for a lovely contrast in flavour to the cranberry mincemeat. The pastry I made was a shortcrust pastry that didn’t take long at all.

Piping the Viennese whirl mixture onto the mince pies was much more fun than topping them with a pastry lid, and didn’t take too much extra time. I’ll definitely be making them again! My children also thought they looked good and weren’t averse to eating a few either… I have frozen the rest for us to enjoy over Christmas!

Recipe:

For the pastry

• 200 g plain flour
• 100 g butter
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 egg
• If needed, 1 tbsp cold water

For the Viennese whirl topping

• 150 g butter, softened
• 40 g icing sugar
• 150 g plain flour
• 0.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp almond extract

• 1 jar (400 g) of cranberry mincemeat

Method:

1. Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the caster sugar, and then pour in the egg. Use your hands to bring the dough together. If needed, add a little cold water to help it come together. Do not over knead, this keeps the pastry short.
3. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm, and chill it in the fridge for about half an hour.
4. Next, make the Viennese whirl topping. Using a wooden spoon, beat together the butter and icing sugar until it is very soft and fluffy.
5. Add the flour, baking powder and almond extract and mix together thoroughly. Spoon into a piping bag with a star nozzle fitted onto it.
6. Roll out the pastry and use a cutter to cut out circles that fit your mince pie or muffin tin.
7. Grease each hole in the tin then press in the pastry gently.
8. Place a couple of teaspoons of the mincemeat in each pastry base.
9. Pipe the Viennese whirl topping onto the mince pies in swirls, as if you were icing cupcakes. 
10. Bake at 180 degrees for approximately 25 minutes until the whirls have risen and are golden brown. 
11. Allow to cool, then serve cold, or warm with cream.

I’m linking up with Lucy from Supergolden Bakes and #CookBlogShare.

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