Buttery shortbread and Christmas fruit mince combine to make thee delectable bars that are much easier to make and mince pies and more delicious.
2 apples, peeled and cut into small dice
Thick peel of half an orange
Juice of 1 orange
250g fruit mince (homemade or store bought)
40g flaked almonds
Pastry
2 cups of cake flour (300g)
1/3 cup almond flour (40g)
2/3 cup caster sugar (170g)
250g chilled butter, cut into cubes
zest of half an orange
Finely grate the zest of half an orange then set aside. Peel the skin off the other half of the orange with a vegetable peeler, and place in a pot with the juice of the orange and bring this to the boil. Add the apples allow this to simmer over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F
While the apple is cooking / cooling – make the pastry. Place the flours, sugar, zest, butter in a food processor and pulse until a soft dough forms.
Line a 20-23cm square cake tin with baking paper. Press 2/3 of the pastry into the bottom of the tin and flatten with the back of a spoon. Place the remaining third in the freezer to firm up briefly.
Spoon out the apples from the liquid and remove the orange peel. Mix this in a bowl with the Xmas fruit mince.
Spread the fruit mix evenly over the surface of the pastry. Grate or crumble the remaining third of the pastry over the top. Scatter the slivered almonds and bake for 40 – 45 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool, cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar