These vegan Christmas apple pies are my first seasonal offering. They are suitable for freezing and are an easy and adaptable alternative to traditional mince pies.
The shortcrust pastry is pretty foolproof as long as you soften the coconut oil to make it workable. A mixture of coconut oil and vegan margarine will keep the pastry crisp without the pallor and slightly oily texture you can sometimes have with just coconut oil. (I know some people swear by 100% coconut oil pastry, but I find this works better.)
The use of orange juice and zest comes from a well-thumbed Jocelyn Dimbleby Christmas cookbook published by Sainsbury’s in the 1980s. The sweet orange crust works well for other Christmas baking such as frangipane tarts, too.
You can substitute mincemeat of course, for the filling, but there is something wonderful and Christmassy about the flavour of bramley apples with preserved ginger, cinnamon and cloves that deserves a pie of its own.
Ideally, you should make the apple filling well in advance to let it cool completely before adding it to the cases. That way, less moisture will seep into the pastry.
These pies will work with pretty much any variation of spices. Cardamom and lemon produces a lighter filling with a distinctive flavour. If, like me, you like your Christmas pies to taste like someone tipped the Christmas pot pourri into them, then you will appreciate the cloves in this recipe. Since I discovered the staggering antioxidant properties of spices – and cloves in particular – it has been an excuse for using lavish quantities. If you prefer a milder flavour, add just a pinch of cloves instead of 1/8 of a teaspoon.
Rolling the pastry out with icing sugar instead of flour on top creates a sweet crisp pastry, and an extra snowy sprinkling when the pies have cooled makes them sweeter still, as well as more photogenic.
The recipe makes a dozen pies like those pictured.
Vegan Christmas Apple Pies…
Ingredients
for the filling
- 220 g peeled, cored and chopped Bramley (or other) apples
- 4 tbsp sugar (reduce quantity if using a sweet apple)
- 3 x 1″ lumps of preserved stem ginger, chopped
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- handful of sultanas (optional)
- 1 tsp cornflour
for the pastry
- 55 g coconut oil (odourless, unless you want a coconut taste)
- 55 g mild-tasting vegan sunflower or other margarine
- 220 g plain flour
- 50 g icing sugar, plus another 25 g for rolling/dusting
- zest of a medium orange
- 2 tbsp orange juice
Method
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F.
- To make the filling, heat the chopped apple in a small saucepan with the sugar, chopped ginger, spices and one tablespoon of water. Cook for a few minutes until the apple is soft. Add the sultanas, if using.
- Mix the cornflour into a teaspoon of water. Remove the apples from the heat and stir in the cornflour mixture. Return to the heat for a minute to allow the cornflour to clarify and thicken the apple slightly. Allow to cool.
- To make the pastry, first soften the coconut oil (unless your kitchen is very warm). It should be easily spoonable – a few seconds in the microwave may be enough.
- Place the softened coconut oil and vegan margarine in a large bowl and add the flour, icing sugar and orange zest.
- Mix with a pastry blender or fork until all the fat is combined with the flour and the mixture resembles large crumbs.
- Add the orange juice and blend with a fork until the mixture comes together easily into a ball. If it seems too crumbly, add a little more orange juice.
- I don’t find this pastry shrinks if you use it straight away. You can leave it to rest if you prefer, but don’t chill it too much as it needs to be fairly soft.
- Sprinkle your rolling surface generously with flour before putting the pastry onto it. Then sprinkle the top generously with icing sugar. Roll it to 2-3 mm thickness and cut 24 rounds. (It may be easier to do this in two stages, ie, cutting only half the pastry to begin with, if you are using a board.)
- Place twelve rounds in a mince pie tin, keeping the sugar side up or they will stick to the tin. Press lightly into the dips before filling with the apple mixture. Pile the mixture slightly as it will reduce a bit during baking.
- Place the tops, still sugar side up, onto the pies. Gently press down the edges with the handle of a spoon, or fork tines, to ensure the pastry more or less meets all the way round.
- Prick the surface of each pie gently with a fork before baking for around 25 minutes, until they are starting to turn a light golden colour.
- Allow the pies to cool completely before removing from the tin and sprinkling with a bit more icing sugar to serve.
- If you are freezing them, add the extra icing sugar later, once you have defrosted and, ideally, crisped them up in the oven for a few minutes.
If you would like to receive e-mail alerts when new recipes are published, please see my contact page.
