The Festive Dessert To Wow Your Mates With | AD

*This post features an advertorial from Waitrose & Partners

Putting together this post really was the dream. A collaboration with Waitrose and Partners + baking a festive recipe = a really tasty afternoon in the kitchen. Seeing as in last week’s video I showed you the Christmas range that they are putting on this year, which is perfect for entertaining, dining or a night watching Christmas films that you haven’t watched before, but are too scared to admit that to anyone (yes I haven’t watched Home Alone and I am a terrible person), today I thought I’d share with you one of their recipes because we all know that their in-store cards and the recipes that are available on their website are SO GOOD. I have a recipe card from them from 2013 that I keep in a folder that we still make often.

Waitrose recipe love-in aside, the star of this recipe of this Mince Pie Streusel Tart (so quick, so easy, minimal baking, maximum effect FYI) truly is the Christmas Amaretto Mincemeat which I spotted earlier in the month and I instantly bought two jars of because it just sounded so good and let me tell you – I wasn’t disappointed. Pick up a jar (or two!) and use it in this tart and you tell me who the real MVP is, eh? This tart is a tart/crumble hybrid and I couldn’t be happier with how mine turned out. It really didn’t take that long and each bite is basically just pure Christmas. Zesty, fruity, with a hit of amaretto (thanks to the mincemeat), all wrapped up in buttery flakey pasty. I bet you’re hungry now…

MINCE PIE STREUSEL TART (serves eight): Combining all the best bits from a mince pie and a fruit crumble, this tart will go down a treat at any holiday party or dinner. So easy to bake in under an hour, plus it has the ‘wow’ factor that will fool your guests into thinking that you went all GBBO contestant in the kitchen.

You will need: 1 roll of pre-made shortcut pastry, 35g plain flour, 35g light brown soft sugar, 35g jumbo rolled oats, 35g unsalted butter (chilled and cut into cubes), 1 easy peeler mandarin (zest), 1-2 410g jars of traditional Christmas mincemeat (I used the Waitrose Christmas Amaretto Mincemeat). 

Unroll the pasty sheet and use to line a 20cm fluted loose-bottomed tart case (it might need a bit of rolling out to help it fit). Leave any extra pasty hanging over the edges and lightly prick the base with a fork. Scrunch up a piece of baking parchment that’s big enough to cover both the base and the sides (not just the base like I did here!), then smooth it out and place it over the top of your pastry. Fill the tart with baking beans, or lentils or rice – just something that is heavy and doesn’t spread when it heats – and then chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200℃, gas mark 6.

Remove the pastry case from the fridge and blind bake it by placing in the oven for 15 minutes. Then carefully lift out the parchment and the baking beans and bake for a further 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Meanwhile make the streusel topping by putting the flour, sugar, oats, butter and mandarin zest into a mixing bowl with a  pinch of salt and rubbing the ingredients together with your fingers to make a clumpy crumble texture.

Use a serrated knife to trim the excess pastry from the case. Spoon in the mincemeat, leaving a gap of around 0.3cm at the top. Depending on the size of your tin you might not need the second jar, although I used two and it was delicious. Sprinkle over the streusel and bake for 20 minutes. Serve cool, dusted with icing sugar if you like and a dollop of brandy butter on the side doesn’t go a miss.

Anyone who has visited us over the past couple of days has gone home with a slice and have reported back with glowing reviews. It’s a crowd-pleaser for sure; I’ll be making one for my Aunty when we visit on Boxing Day, but it’s equally good to have on stand-by incase you have some unexpected visitors over the holidays, plus if they don’t arrive then you have a whole tart to yourself which quite frankly sounds like the dream.

If you give it a go then don’t forget to let me know, tag @waitroseandpartners and use the hashtag #TooGoodToWait – in fact have a browse of the hashtag if you’re in need of recipe inspiration as there is a load on there. Just be prepared to rush out to buy ingredients from your local Waitrose, like, NOW.

Photos by Emma Croman

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