These individual sweet cranberry and marzipan pies are packed with festive flavours and make a delicious change to the traditional festive mince pie.
These little beauties have flavours that I have now come to associate with Christmas and are perfect if you like your fruit pies a little on the less sweet side.
Now don't get me wrong I love a good mince pie and usually make at least one batch of home-made mince pies each year. I like them so much I make variations at the same time, such as mince pies with a frangipane crust. But even when made with homemade mincemeat they are very much on the sweet side.
So this time I have come up with a great alternative, Cranberry and Marzipan pies.
You are going to love these little pies because …
The Almond pastry
The pastry has just a little sweetness and is made with the addition of ground almonds which gives the pastry a deliciously light crumbly texture as well as flavour. A little ground cinnamon adds a hint of another flavour associated with the festive season.
The Tangy Cranberry Filling
The easy to make filling is favoured with light muscovado sugar, orange juice and zest. The result is a lovely zingy flavour that pairs so well with the almonds in the pastry and marzipan.
The Marzipan Lid
and they wouldn't be pies with out a lid. Made with sweet almond marzipan these star-shaped lids not only look fabulous they taste great too.
I am convinced if you try these you will want to include them every year as part of your festive fare.
Cranberry and Marzipan Pies step by step
Make the almond pastry. Make the cranberry filling Roll out pastry and line bun trays. Spoon Filling into pastry cases. Top with marzipan stars and sprinkle with sugar Bake until golden.
📖 Recipe
Cranberry and Marzipan Pies
Equipment
- 2 x bun trays
- 8.5cm (3½cm) round cookie cutter
- 5cm (2in) star cookie cutter
- pastry brush
Ingredients
pastry:
- 175 g (6oz)plain flour plus extra to dust
- 50 g (2oz) ground almonds
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 100 g (3½oz) butter cut into cubes
- 1 egg yolk
- 2-3 tablespoon cold water
Filling:
- 300 g (10½oz)cranberries fresh or frozen
- 75 g (3oz)light muscovado sugar
- 1 orange
- 2 teaspoon cornflour
Top:
- 175 g (6oz) marzipan
- 1 egg white
- caster sugar to sprinkle
Instructions
- Sift 175g (6oz) plain flour into a mixing bowl. Rub in 100g (3½oz) butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in 50g (2oz) ground almonds, 1 tablespoon caster sugar and ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- Make a well in the centre and drop in one egg yolk and 2 tablespoon cold water. Mix to a dough adding a little extra water if required. Lightly knead then wrap and chill in the refrigerator while making the the filling.
- To make the filling place 300g (10½oz) cranberries in a saucepan with75g (3oz) of muscovado sugar. Wash the orange under hot water and pat dry. Grate the zest and add to the pan. Squeeze the juice.
- Mix 2tsp cornflour with a little of the orange juice and set aside. Add the remaining juice to the pan. Cook the cranberries over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until all the sugar has dissolved and the cranberries are very soft.
- Stir in the cornflour mixture and cook for another minute until thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside too cool.
- Preheat the oven to 190℃ (170℃ fan)/375°F/gas mark 5. Meanwhile, roll out the pastry about 1.5mm (⅛in) thick on a lightly floured work surface. Using an 8.5cm (3½cm) round cutter cut out circles of pastry and use to line the holes of a bun tray, re-rolling pastry as required. Spoon the cranberry filling into the pastry cases.
- Roll out 175g (6oz) marzipan a little thicker than the pastry and cut out 5cm(2in) stars that fit the top of the pastry cases and place on top of the cranberry filling.
- Lightly beat one egg white until frothy and brush the tops of the marzipan stars with egg white. sprinkle with a little caster sugar and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool slightly in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Cooks Tip:
Allow the pies to cool in the tin for a few minutes before transfering to a wire rack to cool completely. If you try to remove them straight away they will be very soft and will likely break. If you allow them to cool completely in the tin they will be harder to remove as they will "set" in the tin. This is particularly true if a little of the filling has bubbled over.Store
The pies will keep in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 4 days.No time to make it now - Pin for later
Neil says
Just made these and they’ve turned out really well. These will be a Christmas standard from now on.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
I know they are regular part of my Christmas too. Glad you liked them
winston fletcher says
can i use other fruit instead of cranberri\es
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
That's got me thinking. The answer is I don't really know. The marzipan works really well with a tart fruit I would imagine it could go quite well with apricots, cherry or red or blackcurrants. Depending on the fruit you might want to reduce the sugar. Having not tried it myself it would be a case of playing around to get a pie filling that's not too sweet.
Lesley says
I love these and a great alternative to traditional mince pies. A lovely combination of flavours.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
They are seriously good even if I do say so myself.. I Cant wait to get my hand on some fresh cranberries to make them again this year.
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
I love these! Such a nice alternative to traditional mince pies 😀 Eb x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
I think these are likely to become more popular than mince pies in our house we love the tart cranberry against the sweet marzipan. - Yum I'm off to make some more 🙂
Jo Allison says
These sound so good Jacqui! Nice little change from mince pies and I so love marzipan star lid, yum!
Lou | Crumbs & Corkscrews says
These are delightful Jacqui, and a beautiful alternative to a traditional mince pie. I love the look of the cranberries and their festive colours, especially with the marzipan stars on the top. I will have to give these a try this Christmas.