Christmas Traditions

Holiday Tarts

Christmas dinner is full of tradition. In my family, my Dad always made his special cheese crackers that the grown ups enjoyed with a glass of sherry before dinner while the kids did their best to keep their hands out of the Christmas cookies and tried to settle down after a day of excitement.
Eventually we would all gather in the dining room for dinner:  roast beef with roasted potatoes, peas and onions and a tray of cut up vegetables and olives.  Fancy for us, and special because our grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and cousins often celebrated with us.

My favorite memory was dessert.  Yes, cookies were definitely involved, but two other items that we didn't have any other time of year were served, and to me, were always special.  We followed the English tradition of plum pudding with hard sauce and mincemeat pie.  How this started, as we aren't of British heritage, I don't know, but I looked forward to it every year and this year decided to revive a part of that tradition.

Traditional mincemeat is made of a variety of dried fruits soaked in brandy, nuts, and minced beef or beef suet. It was seasoned with a mixture of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. According to Linda Stradley from, "What's Cooking America" mincemeat began as a way to preserve meat long before refrigeration existed and have quite a long history dating back to the 11th Century.

This year, I decided to make a variation on the mincemeat pie. Made out of dried and fresh fruit and nuts with the traditional spices, these little tarts had a special place at our Christmas celebration this year.

Spiked Holiday Fruit Tarts

Ingredients:
1/2 cup small dice dried pears
1/4 cup diced figs
1/4 cup diced dates
1/4 cup raisins
2 Tbsp. dried cranberries
1/4 cup Wigle Whiskey (I used their aged Rye)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp lemon zest
1Tbsp. orange zest
1 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
1 apple cored, peeled, diced tart apple (Granny Smith)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbsp. Brown sugar

1, 9- inch pie crust

Directions:

1. Mix pears, figs, dates, raisins and cranberries in medium bowl. Add whiskey and toss. Allow to sit, tossing periodically for 4 - 8 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 425F. Roll pie crust into ~11 inch round. Cut 6, 5-1/2 inch circles out and gently place in 4-inch tart ( or individual pie tins). Prick all over with a fork. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

3. While shells cool, mix apple, walnuts, spices, orange and lemon zest, juice and sugar into the dried fruit mix. Mix thoroughly.

4. Fill shells evenly with fruit filling. Bake in 425F oven for 10 - 15 minutes until just warm and filling sets. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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