Viennese Mince Pies are a delicious twist on the classic recipe, with a buttery, crumbly Viennese whirl topping instead of the traditional pastry lid. Once you’ve tried them, you won’t look back!
It’s hard to believe the festive season is almost here. It’s even harder to believe that until now, I haven’t published a recipe for mince pies. I have the Christmas cake, the Christmas pudding and even the turkey sorted, but not a single mince pie recipe. Until now!
I fancied trying something a little different this year. I love Viennese Whirl Biscuits and I’ve always wanted to try Viennese whirl mince pies. The thought of a mince pie topped with a buttery shortbread-like swirl was so appealing. They are everything I hoped for and more.
I’m over the moon with how this recipe turned out – the orange pastry is short and crumbly yet so easy to work with, the mincemeat filling is the essence of Christmas and the Viennese topping melts in your mouth. I now believe these are the ULTIMATE mince pie.
Yes, they are a little more indulgent than your average mince pie, but why not? It’s the festive season, after all.
Nigel Slater writes in his beautiful book “The Christmas Chronicles” that Christmas “is not the time for parsimony”. I have to say I agree – if you can’t splash out at Christmas time, then when can you?
If you’re expecting company this December, make a batch of these beauties to serve with glasses of my spicy slow cooker mulled wine. Who can resist a freshly baked, warm homemade mince pie? Not me, that’s for sure. Pass the brandy butter, please.
A pretty Christmas box filled with these delicious mince pies would make a gorgeous homemade Christmas gift.
Looking for a quicker, slightly easier alternative to traditional mince pies? Try these beautiful mincemeat shortbread bars instead!
Or if you need to make a batch of mince pies in a hurry, then these easy Mince Pies with Puff Pastry are ideal.
ingredient notes for making viennese mince pies
- Want to know why the pastry is so melt-in-your-mouth tender? Cream cheese. Even just a small amount will give your dough a flaky, tender texture. An added bonus – cream cheese pastry is a dream to roll out. Just make sure to use full fat cream cheese – low fat versions won’t work.
- Very Cold butter is also an essential ingredient for creating melt-in-the-mouth, flaky pastry. Please don’t use margarine or “spreadable” butter – it won’t produce a good result.
- A little finely grated orange zest gives the pastry an extra festive touch.
- I add a small amount of ground almonds to the pastry. Ground almonds can often make pastry a little dry and too crumbly, but the fat from the cream cheese helps to eliminate this.
the viennese whirl topping
This is fairly simple – you need room temperature butter, icing sugar, plain flour and a little cornflour (cornstarch). You mix all the ingredients together with an electric hand (or stand) mixer until you have a smooth but fairly stiff mixture.
The mixture will seem quite stiff when you’re piping it on top of the pies, but if it’s too soft the topping will melt in the oven and you won’t have that pretty distinctive swirl on top.
It’s actually a good idea to chill the pies for about 15-20 minutes before baking. I wouldn’t normally recommend this for other mince pie recipes, but giving them a little fridge chill time will prevent the Viennese swirls from losing their attractive shape.
recipe notes
I adore mince pies and make them every Christmas. I usually use this suet-free homemade mincemeat recipe, but I’m certainly not averse to buying a jar of mincemeat – you can buy some really nice ones these days. I also have a recipe for last minute chocolate cherry mincemeat which is rather delicious.
Please don’t be tempted to go overboard when filling the pastry cases with mincemeat. Just one teaspoon per pie is more than enough.
If you overfill the cases, the filling will bubble up and leak everywhere, causing your mince pies to stubbornly stick to the tin. They will be a devil to remove.
This could be classed as gilding the lily, but a little ball of marzipan nestled inside the mincemeat filling is a delicious addition……by the way, if you find yourself with leftover marzipan, you could make these amazing marzipan stuffed dates…
storing
Once baked and completely cooled, store the pies in an airtight tin or container. They are best eaten within 4 days.
Mince pies can be re-heated in a warm oven (160C/140 Fan/Gas mark 4) for 8-10 minutes.
can you freeze Viennese mince pies?
Yes! It’s best to freeze them unbaked. Pop in an airtight container and freeze for up to three months. Bake from frozen for about 25 minutes in a moderate oven (160C/140 Fan) or until they are piping hot in the middle and the pastry is golden and crisp.
more christmas baking to try
- Amaretto Christmas cake
- Brandy snaps
- chocolate fudge crinkle cookies
- chocolate peppermint cookies
- mincemeat muffins
- Mary Berry’s mincemeat loaf cakes
For even more festive recipes, check out my Christmas archives!
Viennese Mince Pies
These Viennese whirl mince pies are a delicious twist on the festive favourite. Classic mince pies topped with a buttery, crumbly shortbread swirl. Make a couple of batches now and freeze for Christmas!
Ingredients
- FOR THE PASTRY
- 200g plain flour
- 50g ground almonds
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- finely grated zest of one orange
- 100g very cold butter, diced
- 25g cold full fat cream cheese
- one egg yolk
- about 400g mincemeat
- FOR THE VIENNESE WHIRL TOPPING
- 150g soft butter
- 150g plain flour
- 2 tablespoons cornflour
- 50g icing sugar
Instructions
- To make the pastry, place the flour, ground almonds, salt and orange zest in a large bowl and stir lightly to mix.
- Add the cold diced butter and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients, lifting them above the bowl as you do so. Stop when the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the cream cheese and egg yolk and mix until you have a smooth, pliable dough - in my experience this dough comes together very quickly so it shouldn't take much mixing.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to about the thickness of a one pound coin. Using an 8cm round fluted cutter, cut out rounds and use to line a 12 hole mince pie tin (see recipe notes.)
- Fill the pastry cases with one teaspoon of mincemeat each. To make the Viennese topping, beat together the butter, plain flour, cornflour and icing sugar. You should have a smooth but fairly stiff mixture. Place this mixture in a piping bag fitted with a 2cm star nozzle. Pipe a neat swirl on top of each pie.
- Chill the mince pies for 15-20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F/gas mark 4. Bake the pies for about 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before gently removing and transferring to a wire cooling rack. Serve warm dusted with a little icing sugar, if desired.
Notes
If you don't have a mince pie tin, you can use a 12 hole bun tin (the kind you use to make fairy cakes) or a muffin tin instead. If you use a bun tin you'll get around 18-20 mince pies and 8-9 with a muffin tin.
Freezing: These mince pies are perfect for popping in the freezer (unbaked) for a later date. Follow the recipe but don't bake the pies. Store in a freezer-safe container or a sealable freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen at 160C/140Fan for about 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp.
Once baked, the mince pies will keep in an airtight tin for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 339Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 231mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 5g
Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.
This was the best pie pastry I have ever made. The richness of the mincemeat really shines. The orange crust is perfectly savory. The sweet shortbread top crust is divine. Both of my crusts needed a little more moisture (different weather can effect pastry) so I added around 1 tap of water to both to get the correct consistency. Wonderful!
This makes me so happy! I’m really pleased you like the recipe 🙂