Christmas Mincemeat Recipe

Due to popular demand I am posting two of my Christmas recipes on my blog tonight. The first is my Christmas mincemeat recipe which always goes down well I've experimented with different alcohol bases (though ti works as non alcoholic too) and I've added pear in the past. But this recipe which I made this year is the best I think. 

Vegetarian (suet free) Christmas Mincemeat

Although this was originally a Nigella Lawson recipe, known as Hettie Potter’s mincemeat (I believe Hettie was Nigella’s assistant) I’ve tweaked it enough to make it my own I think.

(Makes about 4lb/2kg which I think is about 6 small jam jars or 3 of the larger kilner jars)

250g soft dark brown sugar

250ml fruit cider - especially berry ciders - this time I used Aspalls Isabel Berry 

1kg cooking apples, peeled, and cut into chunks

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

500g dried mixed fruit - this time I used Waitrose luxury mixed dried fruit with cranberries, apricot and pineapple  

75g glace cherries roughly chopped, (I use the nice dark purple ones you can get now) roughly chopped

75g mixed peel ( If you  don’t like mixed peel just add more glace cherries!)

zest & juice of ½ lemon and 1/2 a tangerine or satsuma 

6 tablespoons brandy (alternatively rum)

Non alcoholic version - skip the brandy and substitute the cider for apple and blackcurrant or apple and raspberry juice.

1. Place the cider and the sugar in a large saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved into the cider, unlike when making jam it doesn’t matter if every last grain hasn’t dissolved.

2.  Add the roughly chopped apples to the saucepan and stir well.

3.  Add the remaining ingredients, apart from brandy (or rum).  Simmer for around 30 minutes until the mixture is soft and pulpy. This sometimes takes a bit longer than 30 minutes but it’s usually pulpy enough after 45 minutes. Your kitchen will also smell of Christmas!

4.  Meanwhile wash the jars well and sterilise. I put the jars in an oven set to 110^oC/ 250^oF/Gas 1/2 for 10 minutes. Lids can be placed in a small pan of boiling water.  Shake as much water from the lids as possible before filling.

5.  Remove the mincemeat from the heat and set aside to cool for 5-10minutes.  Stir in the brandy (or rum) and transfer to sterilised jars. I find using a wide jam funnel helps here as I’m very messy! But this is much chunkier than jam so it’s not too hard to transfer.  Once the jars are filled and the lids well screwed on, invert them to improve the heat seal. Turn the jars the right way up once they are cool.

6.  This mincemeat can be used immediately after cooking if you wish, but improves with age and keeps well.