Christmas and British food means mince pies filled with delicious home made mincemeat. Christmas mincemeat is not, as the name suggests, meat, if you look at the Christmas mincemeat recipe you will see it is sugar, fruits both fresh and dried, Brandy and suet.
It is remarkably easy to make as you can see in this mincemeat recipe plus home-made mincemeat is such a treat it is worth doing.
Make your mincemeat ahead of time to give it time to mature but don't worry if you are last-minute, it still tastes good.
It is remarkably easy to make as you can see in this mincemeat recipe plus home-made mincemeat is such a treat it is worth doing.
Make your mincemeat ahead of time to give it time to mature but don't worry if you are last-minute, it still tastes good.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 50 minutes
Yield: 3 X 1 lb Jars
Ingredients:
- 6oz/175g raisins
- 4 oz/ 110g sultanas
- 10 oz/ 275g currants
- 4 oz/110g candied, mixed peel, finely chopped
- 6 oz/175g shredded suet (beef or vegetarian)
- 1/2 lb/ 250g soft, dark brown sugar
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
- 1 Bramley or cooking apple, cored and finely chopped, no need to peel
- 4 tbsp brandy
Preparation:
Makes 3 X 1 1b jars of Mincemeat
- In a large roomy baking bowl combine all the ingredients except the brandy. Stir really well making sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave overnight.
- Next day, heat the oven to 225°F/110°C/¼ gas. Remove the tea towel and cover the bowl with foil and place in the warmed oven for 2½ hours. The suet will have melted but don't worry, this is how it should be as the fat is what will help to preserve the mincemeat. Stir well and leave to one side to cool, stirring from time to time.
- Once cool stir the mincemeat again, add the brandy and stir again.
- Fill sterilised jars with the cold mincemeat, cover with a wax disc and a lid. The mincemeat will keep up to one year in a cool, dark place.
