Stir up Sunday is just around the corner. My last Bramley apples are just falling off the tree . The baking cupboard is full of odds and sods of dried fruits that never get quite used up. Supermarkets have started the Christmas push and it is not even November yet. The morning is misty and Autumnal. It feels like a perfect day to make some mincemeat, so it can mature in time for mice pies or a Christmas version of a Pain Aux Raisin.
Christmas Mincemeat
When I lived in Chicago, my US colleagues were often cautious when I announced I was making mince pies, convinced I would be hiding some form of meat in a sweet pie! The 1861 volume Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management called for beef suet and rump steak mixed in with the dried fruit and spice. However my version is packed full of fruit and uses butter instead of suet, not an ounce of meat in sight. Plus a very healthy glug or three of alcohol. Traditionally Brandy but today I substituted the brandy for some damson vodka I made last year. Sherry, Port, Rum or Whiskey all work well.
Christmas Mincemeat
The joy of making your own mincemeat is that you can tweak it to your liking. I am not a big fan of almonds so I have substituted in pecan nuts. I have dialed down the mixed peel and thrown in a handful of glacé cherries. As long as the overall weight of dried fruit adds up to total in the recipe, play around with the ratios of fruits.
Makes: 4 Jars
Ingredients
175g currants
175g raisins
175g sultanas
175g dried cranberries
50g mixed peel
50g glace cherries, chopped in quarters
1 medium cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
125g butter
50g chopped pecan nuts
225g light brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 lemon
200ml brandy (or alcohol of your choice)
Instructions
1. Gently heat the butter, sugar, spices, juice and zest of the lemon until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the brandy/alcohol into the pan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
3. Allow the mixture to cool a little and then stir in the alcohol.
4. Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jam jars. Put on the lid and store in a cool place. These will improve with age and will store well for up to 6 months in a cool place.
- 175g currants
- 175g raisins
- 175g sultanas
- 175g dried cranberries
- 50g mixed peel
- 50g glace cherries, chopped in quarters
- 1 medium cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
- 125g butter
- 50g chopped pecan nuts
- 225g light brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 lemon
- 200ml brandy (or alcohol of your choice)
- Gently heat the butter, sugar, spices, juice and zest of the lemon until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add all the remaining ingredients, except the brandy/alcohol into the pan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
- Allow the mixture to cool a little and then stir in the alcohol.
- Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jam jars. Put on the lid and store in a cool place. These will improve with age and will store well for up to 6 months in a cool place.