Baking with a Buggered Back – Apple and Mincemeat Tart

It’s been a wee while (well more than a wee while) since I’ve posted a recipe and I feel guilty about it. It’s not as if I haven’t been baking or cooking as you can see from my Instagram account. I know, I must try harder (this was a regular comment on several subjects when I was at school).

With a buggered back, and a houseguest for a couple of days, I can’t not feed them something sweet and delicious. They had asked if I could make Jaffa cakes or wagon wheels (yes, they watch the Bake Off) and I agreed; that was before my back had other ideas!

Something simple, that didn’t have me standing for ages in the kitchen, I came up with an apple and mincemeat tart.

Apples from the garden

Apples from the garden, mincemeat from last year’s stash in the pantry, and a shortbread pastry – minimum standing maximum sitting.

Last year’s mincemeat stash!

I thought that making pastry from a shortbread mix meant that I didn’t have to be on my feet to roll it out, I could park my bum on a padded chair with an ice pack in the small of my back and press the dough into the baking tin.

Apples could be sliced at the same table. So that, my dear readers, is exactly what I did!

For the shortbread dough, I used the 1,2,3 method – 1oz sugar, 2oz butter, 3oz flour; I find it easier to use this calculation to scale up! If you use metric measurements, I hope I’ve given you the right weights!

If you use a jar of bought mincemeat and it’s a bit sludgy, add some more dried fruit to soak up the excess liquid.

Use eating apples for this as cookers will disintegrate. For a more marked colour difference, use red and green apples.

Apple and Mincemeat Tart

Ingredients
3oz/90g caster sugar
6oz/180g cold butter, cubed
9oz/270g plain flour
1 jar mincemeat
Eating apples (about 4)
Lemon juice and water

Method
Tip the flour and sugar into a bowl, throw in the butter, and rub between your fingers until everything starts to come together in a clump.
Dump the dough into a square baking tin (9″x9″ or 24cmx24cm) or a 12″/30cm deep flan tin.
Squish it out across the bottom and sides of your tin, making sure that it’s about the same thickness.
Stick it in the fridge to firm up (about 30 minutes should be fine).
Cut the apples into quarters and core (don’t peel!). Thinly slice and chuck them into a bowl with lemon juice and a couple of tablespoons of water – this stops the slices from going brown.
Take the lined tin from the fridge and dollop on the mincemeat, spreading it out evenly.
Cover with apples in a decorative pattern (have a look on Pinterest for inspiration).
Shove into a pre-heated oven (180C/Fan 160C/350F/Gas4) and bake for about 25-30 minutes.

The finished tart

Serve hot, warm or cold along with cream, custard, ice cream or naked – the tart not you!

_© Lea Harris, In the Kitchen with BakersBunny, 2018.