Christmas is upon us again. I cannot believe how this year has zoomed by, but truly I am not complaining.
I adore Xmas – not so much the presents and all the pallava, but the food is right up my alley. There is something about sitting at a long table with people you love and feasting that makes me a very happy little vegemite. I love the fact I need to be kitchen savvy and get myself organised in advance. Now is the time I need to start imbibing my fruit for my fruit mince pies, bottling chutney and condiments to serve with ham and turkey and preparing my special food gifts. One of my favourite things about Christmas is the dessert table, and I am not known for my sweet tooth.
I have created a wonderful raw mince pie recipe. This one takes no time at all to prepare and looks really pretty on a dessert table. You will need a good food processor and some really stunning ingredients but apart from that they are pretty much no muss no fuss, and you don’t have to fluff around with turning the oven on, rolling pastry and all that jazz.
Raw vegan mince pies
- 250g pitted dates
- 1/3 cup almond meal
- 1 tablespoon unhulled tahini (at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped pistachios
- 2 tablespoons goji berries (available at health food stores)
- 1 teaspoon white chia seeds (available at health food stores)
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 100g blueberries
- 1 tablespoon shredded coconut
Method
- Put the dates into a food processor and process until roughly chopped.
- Add the almond meal and process until the mixture is smooth.
- Remove and stir in the pistachios and goji berries.
- Press the mixture into a ball.
- Roll out the mixture between two sheets of baking paper to 1cm thick.
- Use a 5cm fluted cutter to cut out circles, press your thumb into the centre to form a small indentation for the blueberries and pinch around the edges to form a star.
- Fill the centres with blueberries and finish with a little shredded coconut.
Makes 16.
