Vegan Frangipane Mince Pies
These Vegan Frangipane Mince Pies are a rich and decadent twist on a classic. They are full of fruity, nutty flavour and taste fantastic still warm with a dollop of cream. Get the recipe below.
Page Contents
A Christmas classic with a twist
For someone who didn’t like mince pies growing up, I have a LOT of different mince pie recipes on this blog! The humble mince pie is tasty, but there is just so much more you can do with this simple Christmas treat.
Today, I’m going to show you how to make a vegan mince pie with a delicious layer of frangipane. The end result is crisp pastry, filled with a sweet and sticky filling, topped with a soft layer of almond sponge. It has all of the flavours of Christmas rolled into one.
Let’s begin.
Plant based Christmas baking
Since becoming vegan it’s been my mission to take the cakes and desserts I love and make them plant based. That’s how my Big Guide to Vegan Baking came about. It’s a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to master vegan cakes and bakes. Of course, Christmas treats are no exception and all of the same principles apply.
Making frangipane mince pies vegan only requires a couple of substitutes.
Vegan pastry
If you’ve been vegan for a while you’ll probably know that lots of ready made pastry is “accidentally” vegan. The ingredients are usually just flour and vegetable fats derived from palm and rapeseed. The good news is that you can easily replicate your own vegan shortcrust pastry at home!
Vegan mincemeat
Similarly, most store bought mincemeat is suitable for vegans (though it may be labelled suitable for vegetarians, not everyone has caught up with their labelling!) Just check the ingredients list first. So long as it’s made with vegetable suet you are good to go. Though, the easiest way to make sure your mince pie filling is vegan is to make your own mincemeat of course.
You can check out my mincemeat recipe here.
Vegan egg replacers
Last but not least, we’re going to need an egg-replacer for the frangipane. More on that below!
How to make vegan shortcrust pastry from scratch
The method of making shortcrust pastry is not all that different when you are making it with plant based ingredients. It’s still important to use chilled non-dairy butter and vegetable shortening. If you’ve only been able to get soft, spreadable non-dairy butter I recommend freezing it first. Once you come to bring the dough together be mindful not to overwork it as this is what makes tough, inedible pastry! You want to just bring it into a ball and then wrap it in cling film, place it in the fridge, and let it chill. This will make sure that the non-dairy butter and vegetable shortening firms up again.
Pastry usually gets a glaze before baking: this might be milk or egg. The good news is soy milk works as a good egg wash substitute when making these mince pies.
How to make vegan frangipane from scratch
Frangipane is a sweet almond-flavored pastry cream that, when cooked, sets somewhere between a custard and sponge. It’s used in a variety of ways and is perhaps best known for being used in Bakewell tarts and pithiviers. It’s rich and buttery and packed full of almond flavour. I always associate the flavour of almonds with Christmas so it makes this already classic Christmas treat even more festive!
Ordinarily frangipane would be made with butter and eggs. You can use the same non-dairy butter that you use in the pastry in the frangipane mix. It’s a super simple swap that doesn’t require any real thought!
Replacing the eggs is a little more tricky. I talk in my Big Vegan Baking guide about different vegan egg replacers. The one you use depends on the effect you’re trying to achieve. For frangipane I think the best egg substitute is flax seed. For every egg you need to replace, simply mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water. It’s that simple! Once the flax has been blended and then added to the water you leave it to sit and it will thicken up until it’s an egg-like consistency.
You can also use commercial egg replacers. Simply make enough to replace two eggs. The packet will tell you exactly what you need to do and at which point to add it to the recipe.
The full instructions for making frangipane are below. The most important thing is to make sure that, no matter what egg you use, the raw frangipane is not lumpy and is soft enough to spread out evenly across the top of the mince pies.
A few flaked almonds finish these Vegan Frangipane Mince Pies off perfectly.
The recipe
Vegan Frangipane Mince Pies
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 200 grams plain flour
- 50 grams caster sugar
- 50 grams non-dairy butter e.g. Flora or Naturli
- 50 grams vegetable shortening e.g. Trex
- 45 ml cold water roughly 3 tablespoons
For the filling
- 500 g mincemeat roughly 1 jar
For the frangipane top
- 140 g non-dairy butter
- 140 g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp egg replacer made according to the packets instructions to replace 2 medium eggs
- 0.5 tsp almond extract
- 85 g self-raising flour
- 100 g ground almonds
- 4 tbsp flaked almonds
- icing sugar to dust
Instructions
To make the pastry and filling
- Sieve your flour and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl.
- Cut the non-dairy butter and vegetable shortening into cubes.
- Rub the fat into the flour by pushing the fat and flour through your finger tips.
- Once the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs (and there are no large lumps of fat) add the water and stir until the mix begins to bind.
- To bring it all together, use your hands to form it into a ball. You may need a little more water to get it to bind together properly but don’t worry just go with your instincts!
- Next place the ball of pastry in a bowl cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- While the pastry is resting, pre-heat your oven to 180C / 350F/ gas mark 4.
- After 15 minutes, dust a work surface.
- Roll out the larger pastry ball until a quarter of a centimetre thick and using a large round cutter, cut out 16 mince pie cases.
- Gather the scraps together and roll out again as and when you need to.
- Grease cupcake tins and place the pastry discs into the tin.
- Fill with a tablespoon of mincemeat.
To make the frangipane top
- Beat together the non-dairy butter and sugar until creamy.
- Make up the egg replacer according to instructions then beat until the butter/sugar mix along with the almond extract.
- Fold in the flour and ground almonds until the mix is smooth.
- Spoon the frangipane mixture over the filled mince pies then scatter with flaked almonds.
- Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden, turning round halfway through.
- Once they are done pop on a cooling rack and dust with icing sugar.
Nutrition
More Mince Pie Recipes
The Christmas Recipe Archive
Check out the full range of Christmas recipes on the blog by clicking the image below. You’ll find everything from canapes to cocktails, dinners and desserts as well as lots of ideas for edible gifts!
Merry Christmas everyone!