This has been the first year I have made my own mincemeat. Yes, I dare say it is cheaper and certainly more convenient to buy the shop own brand, but there’s nothing like the taste and smug satisfaction of handing out a mince pie at Christmas with the tag line “it’s homemade – including the mincemeat!”
Ingredients
- 250g raisins
- 250g currants
- 100g dates (cut into smallish pieces)
- 100ml brandy or sherry (I actually used sherry because it was cheaper then my nice brandy!)
- zest of 1 lemon, juice of ½ a lemon
- zest and juice of 1 clementine
- 200g shredded suet (meat or veggie versions…it doesn’t matter)
- 250g dark brown sugar
- 85g chopped mixed peel
- 12 glacier cherries, chopped
- 2 small pieces of stem ginger (chopped) and a spoon of the syrup
- ½ small nutmeg, grated
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 large Bramley apple, peeled and grated
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients except the booze and apple together. When everything is well mixed, grate in the apple and pour in the alcohol of choice.
- Spoon and press the mincemeat into sterilised jars, ensuring you avoid any little pockets of air (the easiest way to sterilise jars is to run them through a dishwasher on its hottest setting, I wash them in soapy water, rinse well and then pop them in a baby bottle microwave steriliser for 4 mins). Cover and leave for at least a fortnight. It will keep in the fridge for up to 6 months…but I very much doubt they ever make it that long.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Number of servings (yield): 3 or 4 jars
Update – Smug and satisfied after making my first batch of mince pies of the season with my son for neighbours. Great texture and slight boozy aftertaste that had everyone going back for seconds.
Got to admit I’m impressed to see anyone tackle this. It’s the kind of good, old-fashioned English fare that’s pretty much lost on cooks of my generation, me included! I’ll be round at yours for mince pies and brandy at my earliest convenience!