Gluten Free Ecclefechan Tarts
The humble Ecclefechan Tart is a wonderfully traditional tart originating in the small town of Ecclefechan. With simple, easy to source ingredients these tarts are a nod towards a mince pie but without the festive spices you'd expect and an egg to bind the filling together. This can make 6-8 tarts depending on the depth of your baking tin.
Servings: 6 tarts
Calories: 323kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Gluten free sweet shortcrust pastry
- 100 g gluten free plain flour
- 40 g butter or butter alternative (I use Flora plant butter) I use Flora DF blocks for diary free version
- 10 g lard/trex I use Trex or Crisp n Dry
- 30 g light brown sugar
- 1 egg(s)
Ecclefechan filling
- 50 g sultanas [see notes for alternative]
- 50 g currants
- 50 g sliced almonds
- 25 g mixed peel
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 100 g soft dark brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 egg(s)
- 50 g melted butter
Instructions
To make the pastry
- Add the butter, lard and flour to a bowl and using your finger tips rub until the mixture resembles crumbs or use a pastry knife/blender until you get the same result.
- Stir in the caster sugar.
- Make a well in the middle of the crumble mixture and then add the egg.
- Using a rounded knife cut through the crumble mixture to incorporate the egg or water until the mixture starts to come together, now you can tip the contents of the bowl onto a clean kitchen worksurface.
- Bring the crumble mixture together and begin to knead, this will take about 3 mins, no need to add more liquid, trust me it will come together.
- Take your ball of pastry dough and pop into a Tupperware container and put in the fridge [optional] for at least 30mins to chill, this will prevent shrinkage in the final bake.
To make the Ecclefechan filling
- Melt the butter and then in a bowl simply add all the filling ingredients and beat together to combine.
To build your Ecclefechan tarts
- Take the chilled pastry out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 200°C | 180°C fan | 400°F | Gas 6
- Knead the pastry for a minute to make it manageable and roll out to approx. 3-4mm thick.
- Using an 8cm cutter (I use a fluted cutter as they’re prettier) cut 6 (or however many you're making) circles.
- Carefully place the large pastry circle into a 6 (or 12) pie tray and gently press down into the corners.
- Add a dollop of the Ecclefechan mixture to each pastry case.
- Pop into the oven for 20-22 mins depending on your oven or until a golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool almost completely in the tin before taking out, this pastry is fragile when hot/warm but fine to reheat afterwards.
Notes
If you wish, you can substitute the sultanas, currants and mixed peel for an equal quantity of mixed dried fruit.
Nutrition
Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 94mg | Potassium: 242mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 312IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 2mg