Viennese Whirl Mince Pies
A luxurious twist on the classic Christmas mince pie. With a rich shortcrust pastry casing, filled with delicious mincemeat, and topped with a Viennese whirl. December is finally upon us which means I’m in full-on festive fever! We have the Christmas tree up, the kids have written their lists to Santa and I’m on a…
A luxurious twist on the classic Christmas mince pie. With a rich shortcrust pastry casing, filled with delicious mincemeat, and topped with a Viennese whirl.
December is finally upon us which means I’m in full-on festive fever! We have the Christmas tree up, the kids have written their lists to Santa and I’m on a mission to have my house constantly smelling of Christmas. And what better way to achieve that than with a batch of freshly baked Viennese Whirl Mince Pies?
It wasn’t until recent years that I developed an appreciation of mince pies but these days I can’t get enough of them. Personally, Puff Pastry Mince Pies are my absolute favourite but these Viennese mince pies are a popular choice, which Granny has perfected.
Sweet & buttery shortcrust pastry, holding a generous share of delicious mincemeat, topped with a melt-in-the-mouth Viennese whirl. What more could you ask for in a mince pie?
Ingredients for Viennese Mince Pies:
Butter or Margarine
In terms of tradition and richness, butter is what would be used in your pastry and Viennese paste. However, margarine makes a great alternative that is not only cheaper but can be dairy-free too. It’s personal preference which you use, but if using margarine, just be sure to use a block margarine as opposed to the spreadable kind – the latter will make your pastry, in particular, too soft, due to having a higher water content.
Caster Sugar & Icing Sugar
One for the pastry, one for the Viennese paste. Caster sugar is used in the pastry mixture, making this not only a rich, shortcrust pastry but a sweet one too.
The icing sugar is much finer and a better choice for the Viennese paste, used to create the Viennese whirl tops on these mince pies.
Free-range Egg Yolk
The addition of an egg yolk to your shortcrust pastry makes it a bit more indulgent, adding a lovely bit of colour & richness.
Plain & Self-raising Flour
Again, one for the pastry, one for the Viennese paste. Plain flour is ideal for the pastry casings in your mince pies, as this is a shortcrust pastry and doesn’t require a raising agent.
Self-raising flour is used in the Viennese paste as it allows your whirl topping to rise as it bakes, giving it a light, melt-in-the-mouth texture.
Corn Flour
A little secret ingredient for your Viennese paste mixture. Finer than your self-raising flour, cornflour lends itself to a nicer texture in your Viennese whirl topping.
Mincemeat
A jar of mincemeat is perfectly acceptable in these mince pies, or in any mince pie, to be honest. Who has time to be making their own in the run-up to Christmas anyway?! I like to pimp up my mincemeat with a couple of extra,s though – a little apple adds some extra juiciness, and some dried cranberries for a modern (& tasty!) touch.
Viennese Mince Pies
INGREDIENTS
For the Pastry
- 75g Caster Sugar
- 150g Butter or Margarine ((softened))
- 1 Free-range Egg Yolk
- 300g Plain Flour
For the Viennese Paste
- 150g Butter or Margarine ((softened))
- 50g Icing Sugar
- 150g Self-raising Flour
- 1 tbsp Corn Flour
For the Filling
- 200g Mincemeat
- 1 small Apple
- Handful Dried Cranberries
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat your oven to 200°c (180°c for fan-assisted ovens or Gas Mark 5) and grease a 12-hole tart/cupcake tray with a little butter/margarine.
- First prep your mince meat – mincemeat straight from the jar is fine but adding some apple and cranberries gives your mince pies a little more interest. Peel, core and chop your apple into 1cm cubes and mix into the mincemeat. Add a handful of cranberries also. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter/margarine and sugar for the pastry, before adding the egg. Mix until combined before adding the flour and mixing to form a dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.
- On a floured work surface, roll out the dough quite thin and cut circles large enough to line each hole in your tray. Gently place into your prepared tray, pressing the pastry into place.
- Fill each pastry casing with mincemeat – enough to fill generously but not come over the top edge of your pastry casing.
- In a medium bowl, cream the butter/margarine and icing sugar for the Viennese paste, before adding the flour and cornflour, mixing to create a soft paste. Transfer the paste to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.
- Pipe the viennese paste from edge to centre of your filled mince pies, making a swirl on top.
- Bake in your pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes until a light golden colour on top. Allow to cool in tray for approx 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won’t always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
Recipe originally published in 2018. Updated in 2022.
Can you freeze them please
I have made these for the past 4 years and all my family love them even the one that don’t like mince pies, they are the best mince pies.
I made them last year and we all loved them. Have family coming tomorrow so will make a batch this afternoon.
Fabulous recipe. Made several batches last year and all turned out perfect. Can’t wait to make more this Christmas.
I have just made these but when cooled they collapsed in the middle. I did deep filled ones.
They are absolutely delicious and very short. How do I rectify this.