Ingredients
1 ½ cups plain flour
½ cup almond meal
½ cup caster sugar
¼ cup custard powder
150g unsalted butter, chilled, finely chopped
1 egg, separated
2 tbsp iced water
Filling
410g jar fruit mince
1/3 cup glace cherries, chopped
¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp brandy
2 tsp grated orange zest
Method
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Put sifted flour, almond meal, caster sugar and custard powder in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter, pulse until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add yolk and water, pulse until mixture just starts to come together. Transfer to a clean lightly floured bench and knead lightly to bring the dough together in a flat round. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile for the filling, put all ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
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Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). Roll pastry out between two sheets baking paper to 3mm thick. Using an 8cm round cutter, cut 12 rounds from pastry and ease into a 12-hole round based patty pan. Spoon 1 tablespoon fruit mince mixture into pastry rounds.
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Cut small strips from half the remaining chilled pastry. Brush edges of pies with a little egg white and criss-cross 4-6 strips over tarts and trim to fit. Or cut 6cm stars from remaining pastry and arrange on top of tarts if preferred.
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Brush tops with egg-white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 20-25 mins until light golden. Cool in pans, then remove and serve dusted with icing sugar.
Cook's notes:
This pastry can be quite delicate if the kitchen is warm, so you may need to pop it in the fridge or freezer to firm up for a few minutes in between rolling.
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