It stands to reason that those who make and preserve mincemeat would have plans to use it. That's pretty much the case here, save for this one tart. I never plan to make it, but it always ends up on our table, You see, Bob and I are of two minds when it comes to desserts like this. He loves them and I don't. Don't get me wrong, I love mincemeat, but I have a barely sweet tooth and find this particular pie almost treacly in its sweetness. I snipped the recipe from Family Circle magazine some thirty years ago, but I suspect is roots are firmly planted in the kitchens of Mennonite and Amish communities. On reflection, it is very much like the Funeral Pie I featured here several months ago. Over the years, less and less mincemeat seems to make it into the jars that are sold for the holidays. There was a time when a jar could make a lovely 9-inch pie, but when you shave an ounce here and an ounce there, pies that are suppose to celebrate abundance get mighty stingy. I'm convinced that the apples and streusel that are piled onto this tart were devised to camouflage the scant amount of filling in the pie shell. The original recipe called for piling apples onto the mincemeat and then covering them with streusel. It was a bit of a mess to look at , so I decided to use spirals of overlapping apple slices and less of the streusel topping. It's still awfully sweet , too sweet for my tastes, but at least it looks more planned and festive. I use two, rather than the three, apples called for in the original recipe and I cut the streusel ingredients in half. Those among you who love mincemeat and highly sweetened desserts will love this tart. Here's the recipe.
Mincemeat Tart with Apples and Streusel Topping...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Family Circle magazine
Ingredients:
1 unbaked pastry shell for a 9-inch pie or tart pan
2 cups homemade or bottled mincemeat
2 apples, pared cored and thinly sliced
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a pie or tart pan with pastry.
2) Spread mincemeat evenly in pie shell. Place apples in a medium bowl. Add lemon juice and granulated sugar and toss to coat. Spread in an overlapping pattern of concentric rings on top of mincemeat filling.
3) Combine flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle over apples.
4) Place pie or tart pan on a baking sheet to catch spills. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.
You might also enjoy these recipes:
Mince Pies - The English Kitchen
Mincemeat Gingerbread - Cooking with K
Mincemeat - Felice in the Kitchen
Christmas Flavor Ice Cream - Antics of a Cycling Cook
Cranberry Port Mincemeat Brioche Rolls - What's for Lunch Honey?
Funeral Pie - One Perfect Bite
Green Tomato Mincemeat - One Perfect Bite
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