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)

120g mixed candied peel

800g mixed fruit (make up your own mix of sultanas, raisins and currants depending on what you like best)

150g demerara sugar

1 tsp mixed spice

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