I love a mince pie, but they have to be just right. I want the pastry to mince filling ratio to be almost 50:50; too much filling and you can forget it. Preferably my mince pies will be warm and covered in (clotted, ideally) cream. However, I can’t possibly eat that every single day and I still need my mince pie fix. This is how my Mince Pie Fruit Loaf came about; designed to have all the fruity spiciness from a mince pie but without the pastry and cream. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of butter for spreading!
Ingredients
You will need for one loaf:
- 30g dried cranberries
- 125g raisins or sultanas
- 60g dried figs, chopped
- 300ml strong Lady Grey tea
- 425g strong white bread flour
- 7g fast action yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg, grated
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 30g caster sugar
- Zest 1 orange
- 60g butter, melted
- 1 egg, beaten
- 150ml milk, plus extra for brushing
Method
Stir the cranberries, raisins and figs together with the tea then leave to stand for an hour or so. Drain well and put to one side.
I used a mixer for this recipe but you could easily make it by hand with a bowl and a wooden spoon.
Add the flour, yeast, spices, sugar and orange zest to a mixing bowl and stir lightly to mix it all together.
Whisk the melted butter, milk and egg together in a small bowl. While the mixer is on a low speed slowly pour in the milk mixture. Once it’s all been added increase the speed slightly and tip in the drained fruit.
Knead the bread in the mixer for five minutes or so. Cover the bowl and leave the bread in a warm place for 50 minutes or until doubled in size.
Lightly flour a standard sized loaf tin. Knock back the dough lightly then shape it to fit the loaf tin and pop it into the tin. Cover again and leave in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 190C. Brush the top of the bread with a little milk then bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes and the top is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little before removing from the tin and cooling on a wire rack.
This fruit loaf is wonderful in two ways. Firstly, take a slice when it’s cooling down after baking and just watch the butter melt into the bread. The photo above shows my very lumpy butter, that’s how I like it so it forms pools across the slice as it melts. Secondly, serve it toasted for breakfast, again with a good scraping of butter. The fruit, spices and orange are so festive and it keeps so well you can enjoy it for days.
I love the idea of putting mincemeat filling into a loaf like this. It looks terrific!
My father in law would love this mince pie fruit loaf, he is such a huge fan of mince pies – it definitely wouldn’t last long in our house 😉
Miriam x
I too adore mince pie! This fruit loaf would make a perfect X’mas breakfast.
Could u use store brought mincemeat?
Hi Natalie. I think you probably could do, yes, but the suet in the mince meat may affect the fat content in the final loaf so I’d be tempted to maybe try with just a couple of spoonfuls first.
This looks so yummy! I especially love all of the delicious holiday spices in it. Having a loaf in the fridge is one of my favorite things because you can just grab slices for snacks and with coffee! It’s the best!
Susie
Oh yes this is right up my alley, perfect slathered in butter!
This is a lovely idea. I fell in love with mince pies the first time I spent Christmas in England. They are so addictive and your loaf must be delicious. Thank you!
i feel like i could do some weightlifting with that loaf and then slice a junk off and quickly replace any calories burned off by said weightlifting. 🙂
oh I love this such a fun and tasty festive recipe.
Merry Christmas
i’m not familiar with mince pie at all. but that needs to change, since all that earl grey and dried fruit sounds so delicious!!
Love the flavors in this! SO GOOD! Terrific recipe — thanks. And Happy Holidays!
When I see the word MEAT in the title of this recipe I am like – WHOA. Meat and fruit. NOT FOR ME. But ha! NO MEAT to be found!! 😉 So it’s a goooo! I mean, I love meat but not meat and fruit together!!
I bet that this is the best leaf I’ll ever try, Caroline. Perfect combo of ingredients and a mouth-watering recipe. What kind of milk did you use?
Oh yes! Spread the butter thick on these slices. Looks delicious Caroline.
Believe it or not, but I’ve never had mince pie. I was actually just thinking about this the other day, and then I pop over to see this amazing version. I could absolutely go for this with a cup of my afternoon tea! 🙂
Mince pie is a favorite of both myself and my husband. I love your idea of the loaf…perfect with a cup of tea.