They don’t seem to do mince pies in the US, or at least not at every supermarket all through December like they do in Australia, so I guess I have to make my own.
My mincemeat recipe is kind of improvised. Traditional mincemeat contains suet, but I’m not much into that. Word on the internets is that it’s a traditional part of the preservation technique, but I figure with modern refrigeration and lots of alcohol, you don’t need it. And when I say “lots of alcohol” I guess that’s the biggest feature of my recipe. So if you like your Christmas stuff pretty boozey, you might like this mincemeat recipe.
- 5 granny smith apples, grated
- 2 cups raisins
- 2 cup currants
- 1 cup chopped ddates
- 1 cup chopped prunes
- 1 cup chopped figs
- 1 cup chopped blanched almonds
- 1/2 cup mixed diced citrus peel
- 1/2 cup chopped glace cherries
- zest and juice of 1 orange
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- a lot of booze (see below)
For booze, my rule is generally, “if they drank it in Victorian England, it goes in.” I developed this rule one year when I had to empty out my liquor cabinet before I moved countries, and it works well. I usually use a mix of sherry, rum, brandy, and a slosh of gin for good measure. I never measure it, I just slosh enough in to make the whole mixture soggy. It’s at least a cup of booze, probably more like two.
Everything else is pretty flexible. Mix it up a bit, use what you’ve got in the pantry, or do whatever seems like a good idea. You can’t go far wrong.
Mix everything up well in a bowl, then cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 2-4 weeks. Every few days, take it out and give it a stir. If it seems a bit dry, give it another glug of booze. You want all the raisins to be plumped up, and the overall texture should be something you could use as pie filling. After a few days you can take a taste, and adjust flavours if you want. Add brown sugar if you want it sweeter.
I should note that the recipe makes about half a bucketful of mincemeat, so you could halve the whole thing if you wanted. As is, it would make at least four dozen mince pies. I’ll know how many exactly once I’ve done them. I’m going to take some to a friend’s cookie-baking thing tomorrow, some to the office on Monday to cook with Jutta (who bakes amazing pastries and stuff in the toaster oven), and then there should be enough for another couple of dozen for my own Christmas festivities at home.
I’ll let you know how it goes.