What can possibly be better than mince pies and a cake in one? This incredible (in my humble view) easy mince pie cake is everything you could want for a Christmas mincemeat cake. It is a soft and moist cake filled with mincemeat and Christmas spices to create a truly delicious mincemeat cake.
This mincemeat cake traybake takes 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to cook and only seconds to enjoy. A lovely family-friendly mincemeat sponge cake recipe that is perfect for kids to help make but also looks fabulous as a grown-up Christmas party cake.
The easy mince pie cake is filled with a luxurious mix of apple, dried fruits and candied peel in a mix of mixed spices. (ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground cloves). As a mincemeat traybake goes this is the quickest and easy one you will find.
To decorate the mincemeat cake traybake I add some pulled apart up mince pies to add even more festive cheer to the cake. The little pieces of pastry from the mince pies really do add a great texture and flavour to this mincemeat cake recipes UK. You can also add dried orange slices to your mincemeat cake, they look beautiful and smell even better.
Why you’ll love this mince pie cake recipe
- This recipe is full of Christmas cheer!
- It uses up that jar of mincemeat you’ve had in your cupboard to make an incredible moist cake.
- The Mincemeat is full of Christmas flavours and as it bakes the house will fill with the best smells. Perfect to get you into the Christmas spirit.
- An easy Christmas traybake that can be easily transported in the tin it’s baked in.
- It is a perfect cake for sharing with all ages
- It can be decorated how you like and is a great way to get children involved with Christmas activities as they decorate the easy mince pie cake.
Top Questions
How to make an old fashioned mincemeat Christmas cake?
What size of Mincemeat cake traybake will feed a lot of people?
What do I need to make an easy mincemeat cake recipe uk?
How can I keep my Mincemeat sponge cake moist?
How can I decorate a mincemeat traybake?
Can I use mince pies instead of a jar of mincemeat?
Can I put mincemeat in a cake?
Ingredients
For this easy Christmas mincemeat cake traybake you only need 10 ingredients and 3 of those are just spices. If you prefer some spices more than others then please omit them and add as to your taste.
- unsalted butter (or baking block like Stork)
- caster sugar
- medium eggs
- teaspoon vanilla extract
- plain flour / all purpose flour
- baking powder
- ground cloves
- lots of ground cinnamon
- ground ginger
- mincemeat (mince pie filling)
How to make mince pie cake – step by step mincemeat cake
- In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and mix in, one at a time. Add in the vanilla extract.
- Sieve the flour, baking powder, spices and salt into the mixing bowl. Mix everything until well combined.
- Gently stir the mincemeat (mince pie filling) into the cake mix.
- Pour the mix into the prepared sheet pan/traybake tin and level out. Gently tap the tin on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for about 35 minutes until the centre of the cake is cooked – use a cake tester or skewer to check. If the tester comes out clean the cake is cooked. If it has pieces of uncooked cake on leave the cake to cook for a few minutes more and test again.
- Leave in the tin to cool for 30 minutes and then remove from the tin to cool completely.
- Mix together the icing sugar, butter and cream cheese to make the smooth and delicious cream cheese buttercream.
Top Tips
The best top tip I can give is to add the crumbled-up mince pies to the top of the easy mincemeat cake when decorating. It really adds something special to the bake and the addition of the pastry is absolutely incredibly delicious.
Use butter (if not a baking block) and eggs from room temperature if you can. It makes it easier in the long run when mixing by hand and can help stop your mix from curdling.
You can make this mincemeat sponge cake by hand or with the mixer. If you use a mixer stop before adding the mincemeat in and mix it in my hand so it stays in bigger lumps through the mixture.
Serving Suggestions
The mincemeat cake recipes are best served with the lovely cream cheese buttercream. However, it also tastes lovely warm from the oven with ice cream or even custard if you want to make it more of a dessert.
If you don’t like the buttercream on top, a sprinkling of icing sugar will also work really well and look very festive.
Equipment
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Storing mincemeat cake / Making ahead of time options
This cake is brilliant to make ahead of time as you can make it 2-3 days in advance. Make the easy mincemeat cake and before decorating its store it in an air-tight box or wrapped in plastic. Bring out when you’re ready and top with the buttercream and decorate.
Substitutions and variations
There are a few ways you can make or change this mincemeat cake recipe UK to make it more to your taste.
Can only find mince pies instead of mincemeat? Then crumble up 12 mince pies and mix them into the mixture including the pastry. It will add a lovely texture to the mincemeat traybake and there is something lovely about the pieces of pastry in the cake.
Add more spices to the cake mixture to give it even more of a Christmas flavour. I add ground cinnamon and ground ginger but you can also add ground cloves and nutmeg too. I love adding a sprinkling of spices into the cream cheese buttercream too.
If you don’t want to add the buttercream topping you can add a dusting of icing sugar which is just as delicious.
Change the decorations by adding your festive favourites. I add crumbled mince pies to the top but you can add your favourite sprinkles, fresh fruit or even have a drizzle of chocolate on!
Be really adventurous and add a topping of crumble to the easy mincemeat cake as it cooks.
FAQS about making a mincemeat cake
How to make an old fashioned mincemeat Christmas cake?
The best way to make an old fashioned mincemeat Christmas cake is with a simple sponge recipe. It makes a lovely moist cake which lasts really well for up to five days when stored somewhere cool. Scroll down for the recipe.
What size Mincemeat cake traybake will feed a lot of people?
This mincemeat cake measures 9 inches by 12 inches and makes 12 large slices. If you wanted to make it feed more it easily could. For smaller size pieces you could easily cut this mincemeat traybake into 24 if not 30 slices. They would be cute bite-size treats and perfect Christmas party food.
What do I need to make an easy mincemeat cake recipe uk?
This easy mincemeat cake recipe uk is a soft sponge so you only need the essential sponge cake ingredients. All you need is butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and lots of Christmas spices and of course mincemeat.
How can I keep my Mincemeat sponge cake moist?
The best thing about this mincemeat cake recipe is that the mincemeat you add in really keeps the cake moist. Even a few days later it will be a soft mincemeat sponge to enjoy.
How can I decorate a mincemeat traybake?
There are so many ways to decorate a mincemeat traybake – I love to keep it simple with crumbled-up mince pies on top.
You can also decorate with fresh fruit, even more sprinkles or even Christmas chocolates.
Can I use mince pies instead of a jar of mincemeat?
Yes, you absolutely can use mince pies instead of a jar of mincemeat. The texture of the mince pies in the finished bake is absolutely delicious and looks great too. Crumble the mince pies into the mixture with your hands, leaving a good range of sized pieces.
When adding mince pies to the mix gently add them when stiring so you keep them as a whole as possible. Bake for the same amount of time.
Can I put mincemeat in a cake?
You can put mincemeat in a cake, it makes the easy mincemeat cake so delicious, simply spoon it into your mixture just after adding your favourite Christmas spices. A Christmas spiced cake is amazing with mincemeat.
Other Christmas recipes and sweet treats you might like
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Mince Pie Cake Recipe
Mincemeat Cake – Easy Christmas Mince Pie Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 400 g (1 ¾ cups) unsalted butter (or baking block like Stork)
- 350 g (1 ¾ cups) caster sugar
- 4 medium (4 medium) eggs
- 0.5 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) vanilla extract
- 400 g (3 ⅕ cups) plain flour / all purpose flour
- 0.5 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) baking powder
- small pinch (small pinch) salt
- 0.5 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- 0.5 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) ground ginger
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cloves
- 400 g (1 ⅘ cups) mincemeat (mince pie filling)
Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 125 g (4 ⅖ oz) unsalted butter
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) icing sugar / confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- 180 g (6 ⅓ oz) cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
Decoration
- 4 (4) Mince Pies
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
- Grease and line a 9 inch by 12 inch traybake cake tin with greaseproof paper.
- In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and mix in, one at a time.
- Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl. Mix everything until well combined.
- Add the spices to the mix and stir in.
- Gently stir the mincemeat (mince pie filling) into the cake mix.
- Pour the mix into the prepared sheet pan/traybake tin and level out. Gently tap the tin on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for about 35 minutes until the centre of the cake is cooked – use a cake tester or skewer to check. If the tester comes out clean the cake is cooked. If it has pieces of uncooked cake on leave the cake to cook for a few minutes more and test again.
- Leave in the tin to cool for 30 minutes and then remove from the tin to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Make sure the unsalted butter is at room temperature as it will help make it a lot easier to make.
- Using a hand mixer, mix the butter and icing sugar.
- Add the cream cheese and create a smooth mix. It should be more thick than runny and will hold its shape. If it's too runny add a tablespoon of icing sugar at a time and whisk until it thickens up.
Decorating the mince pie cake
- Smear the cream cheese buttercream thickly over the cold cake.
- Decorate with crumbled up mince pies and your favourite Christmas sprinkles.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Oh, I can almost smell this baking! My grandma would always make mincemeat pies around the holidays, so I will be making this to surprise the family this year!
That sounds so lovely! I really hope it is very much enjoyed.
Mmm…I can almost smell and taste this delicious mincemeat cake! This recipe reminds me of the one grandma would make for the holidays. Thanks so much for the recipe and the fond memories.
Aww this is so sweet! I am glad it can help bring back such lovely memories.
What a great idea Sisley and it looks lush!
Thank you Jacqui!
What an awesome idea this was! Tastes great and love the Christmas smell of my house now!
YAY. I love when a cake makes the house smell incredible when it’s baking. So glad to hear it x
The perfect recipe to make around the holidays, love it so delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed them x
Oh yes! The perfect way to eat mincemeat. This cake looks so tempting. I love the mince pie decoration on the top too.
Let’s hope we still get to share such lovely treats this Christmas xx
Thanks for sharing #CookBlogShare
The crumbled up mince pie really does make this cake extra special. I love it.
I love finding new ways to using mincemeat and this looks super tasty. Cream cheese frosting is my favourite too!
Thank you Cat, that is so kind. I love mincemeat so it’s always a great addition when it works.