Australian Natural Health Magazine - Nourish

For Luke, fruit mince tarts remind him of his mum. Each and every Christmas when he walks through the doors, he smells a fresh batch of locally made fruit mince tarts, which his Mum insists on sitting down with a warm cupps and a long chat. For him, anything that reminds him of his Mums and home is a good thing and we couldn't agree more!

Ingredients ( makes 24)

• 450 g (4 ½ cups) almond meal
• 100 g unsalted butter, chilled and
• cut into cubes
• 80 g (¹⁄³ cup) coconut sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 vanilla pods, split and scraped
• 125 ml (½ cup) Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1 egg white, beaten
• coconut oil spray

Fruit mince

• 2 green apples, grated
• finely grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 85 g (²⁄³ cup) raisins
• 85 g (²⁄³ cup) sultanas
• 90 g (½ cup) dried apricots, finely chopped
• 50 g (1 cup) dried blueberries

Method

For the fruit mince, mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Transfer to the fridge and leave to chill for 3 hours to allow
the fruit to soak up all the delicious flavours. While the fruit is soaking, get started on the pastry. Place the almond meal in a bowl, add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the coconut sugar, eggs, vanilla seeds and almond milk, and mix everything together to form a soft dough. Cover in plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 24-hole mini muffin tin with a little coconut oil. Remove the pastry from the fridge and portion it into twenty-four 30 g balls, reserving any leftover dough. Flatten the balls into discs and gently press into the muffi n holes. Press the pastry into the edges, making sure to cover the sides. Place the tray in
the fridge for about 30 minutes. Remove and spray with some coconut oil and bake for 5–10 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Place a heaped tablespoon of the fruit mince mixture into each pastry case and either cover completely with more pastry or create a pattern. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg white and bake for 15–20 minutes or until beautiful and golden. Here, I have chosen to keep them as open tarts.

Recipes extracted from Eat Clean by Luke Hines. Available now, Plum, RRP $39.99.

Looking for more Christmas dessert recipes? Try Luke Hines' sweet and spicy gingerbread recipe.