Mince Pie Tiffin Bites
Mince Pie Tiffin Bites is a modern British recipe for a way of using-up leftover mince pies by blending with chocolate and dried fruit and topping with more chocolate to make Scottish-style tiffin. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Mince Pie Tiffin Bites.
prep time
25 minutes
cook time
100 minutes
Total Time:
125 minutes
Makes:
36
Rating: 
Tags : British Recipes
Tiffin is an Indian English word for a type of meal. It refers to a light tea-time meal at about 3 p.m., or to a light breakfast consisting of typical tea-time foods. In certain parts of India, it can also refer to the midday luncheon or, in some regions of the Indian subcontinent, a between-meal snack. When used in place of the word "lunch", however, it does not necessarily mean a light meal. In the British Raj, tiffin was used to denote the British custom of afternoon tea that had been supplanted by the Indian practice of having a light meal at that hour. It is ultimately derived from "tiffing", an English colloquial term meaning to take a little drink. In modern British usage, however, a tiffin is a fridge cake composed of crushed biscuits (most commonly digestive biscuits), sugar, syrup, raisins, cherries and cocoa powder, often covered with a layer of melted chocolate. This version makes use of left-over Christmas mince pies that are getting a little stale. As the tiffin will keep for two weeks in the fridge, this is a great recipe for reducing food waste. Tiffin was invented in the early 1900s in Troon, Scotland; the name almost certainly derives from the Anglo-Indian tiffin and refers to the snack nature of the fridge cake.
Ingredients:
100g (1 ¼ cups) skin-on almonds
85g (1/2 cup) glacé cherries, quartered and rinsed
60g (1/2 cup) dried cranberries
2 tbsp brandy (or orange juice)
125g (5/8 cup) butter
100ml (1/2 cup less 1 tbsp) golden syrup (light corn syrup)
20g (1/5 cup) cocoa
Finely-grated zest of 1 orange
150g (7/8 cup) dark chocolate, chopped (50%-72% cocoa solids)
about 275g (3/5 lb) mince pies (roughly 5)
pinch of sea salt
For the topping:
100g (5/8 cup) milk chocolate, chopped
100g (5/8 cup) dark chocolate, chopped
3 tbsp double cream
Method:
Preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan, 390°C, gas mark 6). Place your almonds on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Turn into a bowl and set aside to cool. Combine 60g (1/3 cup) of the cherries, 40g (3/8 cup) of the cranberries and the brandy (or orange juice) in a small bowl and set aside to macerate. Coarsely chop the remaining glacé cherries and cranberries and set aside for the topping. Line a 20cm (8 in) square cake tin or baking dish with baking paper.
Combine the butter, syrup, cocoa, orange zest and a pinch of salt in a large saucepan and heat, stirring, until smooth and melted. Stir in the 150g chopped dark chocolate, mixing well to combine, then remove from the heat and set aside, stirring occasionally, to melt fully.
Once the chocolate has melted stir in the brandied fruit, the toasted almonds and finally the broken-up mince pie pieces, folding them in gently. Turn the resultant mixture into the lined tin or dish, level the top, cover and chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator, until set.
At this point, combine the chocolate and cream for the topping in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water; leave to melt, stirring frequently. Once the chocolate had melted remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Pour over the tiffin and smooth out.
Scatter over the reserved chopped cherries and cranberries. Transfer to your refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours, until firm. Slice into squares to serve.
The tiffin keeps for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge, or can be frozen.
