Worlds best fruit mince pies

fruit mince pies

Are made by my mum. Anne-Marie of The Corrigin Mallee Tree Cafe & Gallery. The recipe is a secret, but if you want to taste perfection, look no further than a little cafe on the main street of Corrigin, in the heart of the West Australian Wheatbelt.

Corrigin is about 230 kms from Perth, out the Brookton Hwy and a worthy spot for anyone looking for a nice relaxing slice of West Australian country air.

West Australian readers should do themselves a favour and take a trip through the wheatbelt soon. Beyond Corrigin there is that 8th wonder of the world Wave Rock, the 9th wonder, Wagin’s giant ram, and 10th -> 17th wonders of lesser known rock formations and ant hills.

Anne-Marie has a reputation in the town, the district, and the greater West Australian baking landscape as an expert of the fruitmince pie, and has been perfecting her craft for many years now, to the point where she has lines of customers waiting for wares as soon as they come out of the oven. Get one while they’re still hot !

Cinnamon Scrolls

Cinnamon Scrolls

My mum made these for us on a regular basis. They usually formed part of a casual Sunday evening meal, along with thick pumpkin soup and freshly scones with lots of butter. I always remember the smell of the cinnamon coming out of the kitchen, and being slightly disappointed whenever i got the end one…which was a bit harder than the others…

Cinnamon Scrolls

Here’s the recipe i roughly followed…

INGREDIENTS:
* 1-1/2 packages (about 3-1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
* 1/4 cup warm water
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1-1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup milk
* 1 egg
* 4 to 5 cups sifted flour
* butter
* brown sugar
* cinnamon (ground or crushed from sticks)
* crushed fennel seeds

DIRECTIONS:
Combine yeast with the warm water and let it sit for a minute to activated the yeast. Heat the milk up in a microwave til its warm, and then add it to the vegetable oil. Then add to this the yeast mixture, sugar, and salt, and the beaten egg. Mix it til it forms a kind of solution.

Now start adding the sifted flour one cup full at a time, working it into the mixture with a spatula until you’ve got a nice big soft doughy ball. It shouldn’t be too sticky, but it shouldn’t be very firm either.

Once you’ve got it to the consistency you want, leave it in a bowl with a moist towl over it to prove (let it rise). Then after an hour or so, punch the air out of it, and let it rise again. When you’re ready to make your scrolls… roll out your dough on a flat tray that has been rubbed with butter… get it a nice rectangular shape, and then cover it with a layer of brown sugar, cinnamon, and the crushed fennel seeds. Then roll it up nice and slowly and cut the roll into little scrolls about an inch and a half thick.

Pop them in the oven and bake at about 180 C for around 20 minutes… possibly longer, i forget how long i actually took… just keep an eye on it, because over cooking turns them dry and lifeless pretty quickly (i learnt that the hard way with the first batch).

enjoy :)