MINCEMEAT CUPCAKES WITH MARZIPAN BUTTERCREAM – Sustainable(ish)

MINCEMEAT CUPCAKES WITH MARZIPAN BUTTERCREAM

I'm a big mince pie fan, especially with a disc of marzipan in the bottom before the mincemeat is dolloped on top (I LOVE marzipan. I could sit and eat a block of it.), but I needed to do some festive baking for someone else and thought that mince pies might be a bit old hat. So I came up with these, and they are a pretty good substitute if you fancy ringing the changes.

This is what you need:

  • 175g butter at room temperature
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 175g self-raising flour 
  • 3 large free range eggs
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • A jar (approx 300g) mincemeat

For the icing:

  • 150g icing sugar
  • 100g marzipan (I use the white marzipan rather than the golden, but the choice is yours)
  • 100g room temperature butter
  • Almond essence to taste (I love the taste, so went with about 1.5tsp)
  • A couple of teaspoons of milk
  • Festive sprinkles (optional)

This is what you do:

  • Pre-heat the oven to 180C
  • Pop 12 cupcake cases into a muffin tin
  • Combine the butter, sugar, flour, eggs and baking powder and mix together until smooth
  • Fold in the mincemeat
  • Portion out between the 12 cupcake cases and bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until risen (they don't rise massively, I suspect because of the mincemeat) and golden brown
  • Leave to cool

    To make the icing:
  • Chop the butter roughly into cubes into your mixing bowl
  • Grate the marzipan using the large hole grater side on a box grater and add to the bowl
  • Add the almond essence and then whiz these together until light and fluffy
  • Add the icing sugar and whiz again, scraping down the sides if necessary
  • Add a little milk if it's a very stiff mixture and mix again
  • Scoop into a piping bag - use a star shaped nozzle if you want to make 'trees'
  • Add sprinkles according to taste!

Plastic free/zero waste tips:

  • Flour, caster sugar and icing sugar can be found in paper/cardboard easily at the supermarket
  • Some makes of butter wrapper will separate after soaking so you can recycle the foil and paper
  • I ordered baking powder from the Plastic Free Pantry and re-fill the plastic pot I got from the supermarket
  • I use silicone reusable cupcake cases for cakes we will have at home. If I'm gifting them to people, I use these ones here which are compostable and unbleached.
  • I've not found a source of plastic-free sprinkles or marzipan (I know you can make your own) - if anyone knows of any, please do let me know!
  • I bought a roll of 'disposable' piping bags about 6 years ago before I knew any better and have been re-using each one until it falls apart. I'm on my last couple now so will invest in a proper re-usable one.

What do you reckon? Will you give these a try?
Let me know!

INTRODUCING THE CRAP-FREE CHRISTMAS COURSE!

Join me and a merry band of similarly challenged Crap-free Christmas wannabees as we dive into into the nitty gritty, the practicalities and the emotional minefields of a festive season with less crap and more joy!

MORE INFO

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below

←Previous post Next post→