Mince Pie Cupcakes – Almond cupcakes with a festive mincemeat centre and topped with brandy buttercream.
Christmas seems to be coming up very fast now (far too fast, I’ve still got so many Christmas recipe ideas and no time to share them all!). I’m pleased to say that I’ve finally finished my Christmas shopping which is a huge relief. Thank goodness for next-day delivery otherwise I’d have a few empty-handed relatives on Christmas morning.
Wrapping is next up for me, but I wanted to share these festive cupcakes with you first before I get out the paper and scissors along with a glass of something festive and a Christmas film (it’s possible that I’m using writing this up as an excuse to put off the wrapping as it’s not my favourite job 🙂 ).
Christmas seems to have rushed up so quickly that I haven’t actually manage to bake any mince pies yet (although I have managed mince pie truffles if that counts). Today’s recipe is another ‘nearly-a-mince-pie’, for anyone that fancies a twist. It’s an almond sponge, filled with mincemeat and then topped with brandy buttercream. I’ve also added a few festive sprinkles to finish them off. I really wanted the holly and berries sprinkles but I couldn’t seem to find any anywhere locally 🙁 .
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Mince Pie Cupcakes with Brandy Buttercream
INGREDIENTS
For the cupcakes
- 100 g soft butter
- 100 g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 100 g self-raising flour
- 25 g ground almonds
- 120 g mincemeat
For the brandy buttercream
- 75 g soft butter
- 75 g icing sugar
- 35 ml brandy
To finish
- Festive sprinkles – optional
RECIPE VIDEO
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat your oven to 190ºC/170ºC fan.
- Beat together the butter (100g) and caster sugar (100g) until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs (2 eggs) one at a time, beat after adding each egg until full combined.
- Add the almond extract (1 tsp).
- Sift in the self-raising flour (100g) and ground almonds (25g) and mix until fully combined.
- Divide the mixture equally between 6 cupcake cases.
- Use the back of a teaspoon to make a dip in the centre of each cupcake.
- Add a generous teaspoon of mincemeat into the centre of each cupcake (120g in total).
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top of the cupcakes is golden (sadly the skewer test doesn’t work on these due to the mincemeat centre).
- Place onto a cooling rack to cool while you make the buttercream.
- Make the buttercream by beating 75g butter until soft. Add the icing sugar (75g) a spoon at a time (as this helps to prevent sugar flying everywhere) and beat until fully combined.
- If you’ve been using a mixer you want to switch to doing the next bit by hand. Add the brandy (35ml) very gradually to the butter/icing sugar mix. Beat in each addition until fully combined before adding more.
- Place the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe into the cupcakes.
- Top with a few festive sprinkles.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Peanut-Free (Contains Almonds. Some mincemeat recipes may contain other nuts)
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Lupin-Free
Carolyne says
Amazing recipe, have made on numerous occasions!
Lorraine Metcalfe says
Im trying these this year, just found it on the Internet. Can I use vanilla extract instead of almond and also what could I replace ground almonds with. Thank you
Charlotte Oates says
Yes you can use vanilla extract or just leave out extract altogether. Replacing the ground almonds is a bit trickier to advise on without testing but I think that if you replace the almonds with more flour, you are likely to be ok.
Tracey says
My mincemeat sank and I think it’s because I made the hole too deep. It will naturally sink a bit – that’s just logic. But if you have enough cake mix in the bottom I think it should work better. I’ll try again next year as I can’t afford the calories what with all the cheese I’ve got to eat!!
Josie says
I know this was 2yrs ago but if you haven’t been able to manage fixing this, as my first try the mincemeat sank, when I redone them, I placed half the cupcake mixture to the cases and then placed the minced meat in the middle then topped up with more cupcake mixture, carefully making sure the edges were sealed.
Myra says
Brilliant cakes. I found using a teaspoon warmed in hot water helped with putting the mincemeat into the cakes.
Barbara Bennett says
These are my new favourite cupcakes, they are delicious. I tried them as a practice for Christmas and I’ve had to make them again! Thank you.
Clare Cooney says
Hi these went down fab last year I want to make 12 of these do u just double up on the recipe? Thanks. Clare
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, just double up.
Jacqui says
What did I do wrong my mincemeat sank to the bottom of all my cupcake other then that they were delicious
Charlotte Oates says
I’m not too sure why that would have happened as I’ve made these loads of times and the mincemeat has always stayed put (the cake has risen around it, but it hasn’t sunk.
A few ideas on what it could be:
What brand of mincemeat did you use/recipe if homemade? If the pieces in the mincemeat you used were on the large size then then could cause it to sink.
How deep did you make the hole in the middle of the cupcakes. It needs to be a small dip, j=ust deep enough to add the mincemeat. If it’s too deep then there won’t be enough sponge below the mincemeat to hold it up.
I’m glad to head you still enjoyed the despite the sinking mincemeat.
Tracy says
Could the cupcakes be frozen?
Charlotte Oates says
They’ll definitely freeze undecorated, then make the icing when you want them to decorate.
Roberta says
Hi, this looks divine. Could we not use almond flour? I am seriously gluten intolerant.
Charlotte Oates says
I don’t think almond flour would be light enough to replace the wheat flour in the recipe. You should be able to use a gluten-free flour blend designed for cakes with good results though.
Selina says
Hi Charlotte,
Thank You very much for sharing Your amazing recipes, I only discover You recently and love Your recipes, I haven’t done any of them yet but Christmas is coming, I’m gonna start baking 🙂 I was looking for something this Christmas beside making Mince Pies and I think You have done great with this twist, I cant wait to make them, have a lovely weekend.x
Charlotte Oates says
That’s great, I hope you enjoy them.
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
I love cupcakes with hidden surprises! Love these for Christmas. Have a good one! x
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Kate. Happy Christmas xx
Carlos At Spoonabilities says
Ohh. You got me with this recipe. I love almond cupcakes, but this one is so inviting, the filling looks so Amazingly delicious! And The cupcake topped with this boozy buttercream.
I need to practice my piping skills, and yours are perfect! What tips have you to get such an easy buttercream shape on the cupcakes?