Mince Pie and Custard Cupcakes; a warming, spiced cupcake laced with Christmas mincemeat, topped with a swirl of vanilla custard buttercream.
Mince pies are perhaps one of the most divisive of all the Christmas foods. Next to the stinky Brussels Sprout, of course.
As adorable and inviting as they are, with their sugar-sprinkled shortcrust pastry, not everyone is a fan of their rich filling. Whether it be the sweet strength of the dried fruit, or the boozy flavour that permeates them, they just aren’t representative of a modern Christmas.
Personally, I love a mince pie. Being a firm advocate for all things carbohydrate, I do prefer a mince pie that is more pastry than filling, but I enjoy them nonetheless.
Tradition isn’t really my thing, hence the blog title, so I decided to sex up the old-fashioned idea of a mince pie into something more relevant. Now obviously, in fashionable cities and online, cupcakes are old news that everyone got over as soon as the Cronut appeared. However, do remember that I live in the North East of Scotland, an area of our planet that still finds things such as vegan food or salted caramel a genuinely shocking proposition. Cupcakes are still new and exciting in my part of the world, even if elsewhere they are a prospect old enough to be on its gap year from university by now.
Enter stage left, the Mince Pie and Custard Cupcakes. A cosy, cinnamon spiked cupcake, laced with rich winter mincemeat and swirled with fluffy custard buttercream frosting. A bigger, and sexier, yet lighter, way to enjoy this Christmas tradition.
These were brought into my office tentatively, as I expected a few people to be mightily turned off by the fruity flavour, however they were snapped up and shared in no time. Another notch in my post of sugar-based social validation in the workplace.
These Mince Pie and Custard Cupcakes are an excellent thing to bake with or for your family this season, and will be sure to impress whichever lucky sod you serve them up to!
Just try not to eat all the frosting beforehand, k?
These cupcakes might just be able to win over a mince pie skeptic, or if it doesn’t, you can eat theirs instead!
Mince Pie and Custard Cupcakes
Mince Pie and Custard Cupcakes; a warming, spiced cupcake laced with Christmas mincemeat, topped with a swirl of vanilla custard buttercream.
Notes
BE A MAVERICK: why not add some brandy to the frosting for a traditional brandy butter flavour?
Ingredients
For the Mince Pie Cupcakes;
- 200g (13 tbsp) soft butter/margarine
- 180g (scant 1 cup) soft light or dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 230g (1 ¾ cups) self-raising flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- Pinch of salt
- 150g (⅔ cup) shop bought or homemade fruit mincemeat
For the Custard frosting:
- 250g (16 ½ tbsp) softened unsalted butter
- 450g (2 ⅓ cups) icing sugar
- 2 tbsp custard powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Splash of milk (optional)
- Extra mincemeat to decorate (optional)
Instructions
For the Mince Pie Cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven – 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F / gas mark 4 – and line a 12-hole cupcake or muffin tin with some paper or foil cases.
- In a large bowl, beat together your butter/margarine, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. You can use a wooden spoon or an electric whisk/mixer for this.
- Add your eggs one at a time, beating well between each one.
- Tip in your flour, spices, salt and mincemeat.
- Gently mix until everything is smooth and combined.
- Spoon the mixture evenly between the 12 cases and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until risen and springy to touch.
- Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for about 5 minutes before removing them and allowing them to cool completely on a wire rack.
For the Custard frosting:
- Place your butter and half the icing sugar into a large bowl and beat together until combined.
- Sift in the remaining icing sugar, custard powder and vanilla into the bowl and beat again until incorporated.
- Beat the icing vigorously until fluffy and noticeably lighter in colour. You may want to add a splash of milk if it seems too thick or heavy.
- Once nicely whipped, either spread or pipe your icing onto your cooled cupcakes.
- Top and decorate the cupcakes with extra mincemeat or whatever you like.
- Enjoy
OK, true confession time. I’ve never tried mincemeat before but your recipe and photos look so damn good, I’m tempted to try this recipe this weekend!
I hadn’t tried it until a few years ago either, no shame haha! I hope you enjoy if you do 🙂