Roast Chestnuts, Glazed Hams, Plum Puddings, Yule Logs, Christmas Cakes, Trifles and Mince Pies are only some of the Traditional Christmas Foods so popular at this time of year. These iconic foods, vital to December menus, while used in various ways at different latitudes are fully ingrained in the culture of the season. Christmas Cooking and adapting all of our platters at Café Riva to include Christmas themed foods is well underway. Glazed Ham, Roast Turkey slices, Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing and Christmas Chutney feature strongly on all our Closed and Open Sandwich Platters. Smoked Salmon, another Café Riva favourite food throughout the year but especially at Christmastime is used on our Canapés and Seafood Platters.
Here in Café Riva, Christmas really only gets underway when we’ve baked the first batch of Mince Pies! Nothing gets you into the festive spirit quite like the taste of buttery, crumbly pastry filled with temptingly spiced and juicy mincemeat served with a good dollop of cream! Café Riva Mince pies are known for their incredibly buttery yet zingy flavour. The filling has an aroma of cinnamon and citrus which compliments the buttery taste of the wonderfully crisp, golden pastry.
Café Riva’s Morning Bakery Platters throughout the year contain a selection of Mini Croissants, Danish Pastries, Muffins and Homemade Scones. For the month of December you can request that we also include Café Riva’s Mince Pies.
Café Riva’s Afternoon Pastries Platters typically contain Homemade Muesli Slices, Carrot Cake, Brownies, Mini Doughnuts and Fruit Tartlets, but again, just ask us to include some Festive Mince Pies or slices of Christmas Cake or Yule Log!
As 2020 has been a year like no other there isn’t a better way to Say ‘Thankyou’ to Customers and Colleagues than to organise Café Riva’s Mince Pies and Freshly Whipped Cream for their Coffee breaks.
Café Riva Mince Pies
Mincemeat:
- 150g Raisins
- 150g Currants
- 75g Mixed Peel
- 125ml Brandy
- 125g Muscovado Sugar
- 150g Chopped Suet
- 1 tsp Mixed Spice
- 1 Apple, peeled, cored and grated
- 1 Orange, juice & zest
- 1 Lemon, juice & zest
Pastry:
- 400g Plain Flour
- 175g Butter
- 50g Icing Sugar
- 1 Orange, zest only
- 1 Egg Yolk
To Glaze:
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 25g Demerara Sugar
Method:
To make mincemeat: place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Cover an d leave for up to 24 hours. The Mincemeat can be kept for longer but needs to be stored in sterilised jars and sealed.
To make pastry: sift the flour into a bowl, add the butter and rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Sift in the icing sugar and orange zest. Add the egg yolk and approx. 3 tablesp cold water to form a ball. Place, covered in a refrigerator for 30 mins.
Pre-heat the oven to 200⁰C/400⁰F/Gas 4.
Roll pastry on a floured board and cut rounds with a pastry cutter slightly bigger than the size of the holes in the patty tins. Fill each pastry case with mincemeat and then cut further rounds the size of the holes to make the lids. Brush the rims of the pastry cases with beaten egg and press the lids into position. Brush with beaten egg & sprinkle a little demerara sugar on top. Use a sharp knife to make a little slit on top to allow steam to escape. Bake for 20-25mins. Cool on a wire tray. Serve warm with whipped cream.