Bringing storytelling, Gaelic flair and colourful, warm jumpers into the kitchen, Scotland’s bestselling cookbook author, The Hebridean Baker (aka Coinneach MacLeod), shares his recipe for a delightful Scottish alternative to mince pies
RECIPE AND FOOD STYLING COINNEACH MACLEOD PHOTOGRAPH SUSIE LOWE
Easy bake.
The recipe
Makes 6 Hands-on time 30 min, plus cooling and 1 hour chilling Oven time 15 min Specialist kit 6-hole tart tray; fluted cookie cutter (3cm larger than the tart holes)
“The Gaelic name for the village of Ecclefechan in Dumfries and Galloway is Eaglais Fhèichin, with eaglais Gaelic for church. Named after the village, the tarts create a heavenly, house-filling aroma – perfect for after church.”
MAKE AHEAD
You can freeze the cooled tarts for up to 3 months; defrost overnight in the fridge, then warm in a low oven.
KNOW-HOW
If you don’t have a 6-hole tart tray you can use a yorkshire pudding tin, muffin tin or similar. You can also use a cup or bowl as a guide to cut out pastry discs if you don’t have a suitable cutter.
For the filling
• 60g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease
• 100g soft dark brown sugar
• 1 medium free-range egg, beaten
• Finely grated zest 1 orange, plus 1 tbsp juice
• 3 tbsp scotch whisky
• 150g mixed dried fruit
• 50g walnuts, roughly chopped
For the pastry
• 200g plain flour, plus extra to dust
• 65g unsalted butter, cubed
• 75g caster sugar
• Finely grated zest 1 orange
• 1 large free-range egg yolk
• 2½ tbsp ice-cold water (and a little more if needed)
1 To make the filling, put all the ingredients in a bowl, mix and set aside for 1 hour.
2 To make the pastry, rub the fl
