This is the time of the year I would like to make all kinds of special things but alas, I don’t really have the time and ….lets face it what would be the point, my adorable teenager, Skater would probably not eat any of it . He most certainly would not consider eating this Fruit Mince Crumble Slice!!
I had a lunch to go to the other day….and so I squeezed this in amongst the Canapés and desserts I am making for other people. It’s a good one for making ahead or making as gifts.
In the meantime, now that school is finished. I have been encouraging my school leaver to get himself organised ( for life …).
During the week he had to post off his acceptance for the course he wants to do at AIM . I received a phone call that day at work with an important question. At the post office, Skater had managed to buy an envelope and one of those stamps that looks like a piece of paper with writing stamped on it. He had addressed the envelope (another story in itself), but he couldn’t work out where to put the stamp or how to stick it on…………………….here is the silence that met this question…surely he was joking with me? This is where I also received quite a bit of flak from my work colleges because I told him to go back into the post office and ASK! I know that was cruel , but I am sure this was a valuable life experience for him. It remains to be seen whether anyone of his generation will ever need to post a letter, but at least he knows how to lick a stamp now…..and where it goes.
In other news, he is cooking dinner tonight. A lovely pasta dish incorporating a present he was recently given. Tell me if you have ever seen this shape pasta before?
Well neither HAD I , until now.
Here is how you put this fruit mince slice together.
First off make the fruit mince. Its very easy to make. Just put everything into one pot and simmer till reduced. You could buy fruit mince but this one tastes so good. It is not as sweet as a store bought one.
Next make the pastry base. press it into the base evenly and into each corner.
Bake till golden and cooked through.
Spread some of that cooled fruit mince onto the top of it.
Then evenly sprinkle over the crumble mix. now bake for around 30 – 40 minutes or until golden
You will have a little fruit mince left. try making these with your left over mince.
Fruit mince muffins- half muffin half doughnut!! Get the recipe
Fruit Mince Slice with crumble top
Ingredients
The fruit mince
- 330 gm mixed dried fruit 2 cups /12 oz approx
- 150 gm cranberries, dried 1 cup / 5.3 oz
- 135 gm currants 1 cup / 4.8oz
- 200 gm red cherries chopped | 7 oz
- 150 gm orange marmalade 5.3 oz
- 2 whole oranges zest
- 1 whole lemon zest
- 200 ml orange juice
- 50 ml lemon juice
- 1 large apple, grated 200 gm can have the skin on | 7oz
- 90 gm brown sugar 1/2 cup, 3.2oz
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper finely ground black or white or couple of grinds of fresh
- 100 gm butter chopped | 3.5 oz
Pastry
- 225 gm flour 1.5 cups | 7.9 oz
- 100 gm butter softened
- 50 gm fine sugar 1.7 oz
- 1 whole egg beaten
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
crumble
- 90 gm brown sugar 1/2 cup | 3oz
- 90 gm butter
- 120 gm flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Set the oven to 170 C / 340F
- You will need a 25 x 18 cm rectangular tray (10×8 in) or a square 24 x 24 cm (10 x 10 in) x approx 4 cm deep. Line the bottom with baking paper to make thew slice easy to remove when cool.
- Sometimes I begin this step the day before so that the fruit has time to cool.Put all of the fruit mince ingredients including the apples into a medium pot and simmer gently stirring in the butter and jam so that it becomes shiny and sticky. This will take about 5-10 minutes. The mixture will be lightly bubbling. The liquid needs to be reduced and thickened. Set aside to cool. This can be transferred to another pot or bowl and put into the fridge to cool
To make the base
- Put the softened butter (100 gm) in a mixer and beat/ mix/ until light, add the sugar and continue to mix until pale and light.
- Add the egg and mix in well. Pour in the flour and mix until just combined. The dough will be soft and a bit sticky.
- Tip the dough into the tray. Put some flour on your fingers and flatten the dough right to the edges of the tray till evenly spaced and flat. Chill in the fridge ( 1/2 an hour or till firm- you can also freeze for 15 minutes to speed this up)
- Bake the base in a 170 C / blind ( that means without the filling), until just golden. Take out of the oven and set aside on a cake rack
Crumble mix
- Put all the ingredients for the crumble into a mixer with the flat mixing paddle. Mix till well combined. The mixture should start to clump together in nice lumps that look like breadcrumbs. Stop mixing as soon as it is combined. ***This can also be done with your fingertips. A crumble must be sticky and lumpy or it will be too dry.
- Spread fruit mince onto the pastry base about 2 cm deep and then cover all over with the crumble mix.
- Bake till the crumble on top is golden and crispy. ( Approximately 1/2 an hour). The base is already cooked so you just need to get that crumble cooked
- The slice is great as it is but with a little time in the fridge it becomes firmer and easier to cut
Notes
Here they are packed and ready for Santa
This recipe is an absolute treasure. Thank you so much for sharing it ?
Have made it several times over the past few months and it never fails.
Hi Lizabeth
Thanks so much for taking the time to drop a line, it really means a lot to me.
It appears you love a fruit mince crumble as much as me !
All the best
Tania
Hi Tania – your note in the recipe says it will be updated to better reflect quantities. Any chance of doing this before Christmas 2020? It’s too nice a creation not to have your ultimate version.
My very best
Cheers from Stephen
Ok I’ll get onto it!
This looks amazing!! Yum.
Thanks Alsion
Googled for a recipe to use left over fruit mince and came across your blog. I will be using this recipe tommorrow and like everyone else, had a good laugh about the stamp! makes me feel OLD!!
although many of the ingredients are the same, this sounds SO much better than fruitcake! delightful!
and though i’ve never seen pasta boobs, they look like lots of fun. 🙂
hahaha that pasta is too funny! Great idea for a Christmas slice, I’d love a piece about now!
What a great idea making a mince slice! Love the way you packaged it too 🙂
I love this take on the traditional mince pie 🙂 I’d happily tuck into this with some ice cream 😀 Merry Christmas!
Pasta boobs = awesome!! Also, this slice looks delicious!
I would certainly eat this fruit crumble. How amusing that your son didn’t know where to put the stamp!
Oh yes, very amusing!
This looks delicious – I love any kind of crumble!
Haha I guess there is a whole generation out there who doesn’t know how to lick a stamp! Just writing that I can taste the awful things. I remember helping dad with the Christmas cards one year. Swear I got a little light-headed after a while.
What a nice twist on fruit mince pies!
Well that means you at least know where to put a stamp claire
This is looks absolutely amazing!! And I love mincemeat!
Thanks Jennifer. Its the simple version without any suet but it’s nice
Yes, I can imagine receiving EXACTLY the same phone call……LOVE the slice – will there be any left????
Yummy! I’m always up for alternative ways to use fruit mince as I’m not the biggest fan of mince pies – love all that crunchy crumbly topping 🙂
This slice is brilliant! A crumble topping would be the best with a spicy fruit mince! Yum!
Gorgeous mince crumble slices! And they are so beautifully and festively packed!
That’s an awesome name for a cookbook.
Really ???. You funny thing
I can just imagine that I would get the same kind of phone call or worse – that Archie forgot to post off his application altogether. Teenage boys do seem to need to learn these lessons and good on you for making him do it rather than doing it for him. I love the look of your slice, Tanya xx
Oh clever you – why eat a mince pie when you can eat a whole tray of mince slice? It looks so nice all packaged up, too. Great recipe, Tania. Just one thing – I think you may need to enter the hop again as I can’t find your entry in the linkytools dashboard. Would you mind trying again? Thanks!