I often feel mincemeat is the herald of Christmas time. It benefits from being made a good few weeks in advance of the event (the longer the better) but the homemade stuff is worth waiting for. As well as being much more delicious, when you make mincemeat yourself, you know exactly what has gone into it, can leave out anything you don’t want, and, even better, you can reuse a jar to keep waste down!
This is the recipe I have used for a few years now and it has always gone down well. It is incredibly easy and we can even mix up most of the ingredients for you here at Natural Weigh. I usually make it around October time but as long as you can leave it in the jar to mature for at least three weeks before use it will be fine.
Ingredients:
200g vegetable suet
2 Bramley apples (depending on the size, aim for around 200g)
800g mixed fruit (make up your own mix of sultanas, raisins and currants depending on what you like best)
1 orange (zest and juice)
60ml good quality brandy
Method:
Mix all of the ingredients together
Transfer into sterilised jars
Seal and store until you are ready to use it. I would also recommend turning the jar upside down occasionally to make sure all the fruit is nicely soaked in the sticky, gooey juicy bits
This is a recipe from at least 50 years ago.
3lbs of apples
2lbs of sugar
1 3/4 lbs of currants
1/2 lb of candied peel
1 3/4 lbs of raisins
1 1/4 lbs of suet
juice and rind of a lemon
wine glass of brandy
a whole grated nutmeg
I note that it is before sultanas were available, or
pre-prepared spices. The apples, raisins and candied peel
were all to be minced.
Thanks Patricia. The tried and tested ones are often the best 🙂