Homemade Mincemeat Recipe With Picture

Homemade Mincemeat is made with freshly grated apple, dried apples, dried cranberries, golden and dark raisins, currants, and candied peel. These wonderful ingredients are flavored with dark brown sugar, frozen apple juice concentrate, rum and brandy, butter, ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves. Trust me on this, once you taste this rich, sweet, and spicy preserve you will be hooked.

In the beginning Mincemeat was made with meat (hence the name), eggs, dried fruits and spices. Over time, beef suet (kidney fat) came to replace the meat and the eggs were dropped completely from the recipe. Today's mincemeat is thought of as a spicy preserve consisting of a mixture of dried and candied fruits, apples, and spices (with or without beef suet) that are heavily laced with brandy and/or rum. Now, the recipe given here (from Rick Rodgers' excellent cookbook 'Christmas 101') does not contain beef suet, which the health conscious will appreciate. Instead the fat used is unsalted butter. Mincemeat is often made by just mixing all the ingredients together and then letting the mincemeat macerate in jars for several weeks. This recipe is a little different in that it is first cooked which allows the fruits to absorb the liquid and become wonderfully soft and plump. Then the mincemeat is refrigerated. What is so great about this recipe is that the mincemeat is ready to be used the very next day which is perfect for the last minute baker. However, if you want it can also be refrigerated for up to a month, but you will need to feed the mincemeat with a little rum or brandy ever week or so.

Now, what do we do with mincemeat once it is made? I think everyone's favorite is miniature Mincemeat Tarts (commonly known as Mince Pies), consisting of a top and bottom crust of pastry with a mincemeat filling. Another favorite of mine is a large Mincemeat Tart with its lovely lattice top, or the Mincemeat Shortbread Bars which are like a Mincemeat Tart only in bar form. The pastry is replaced by two layers of buttery shortbread with a layer of mincemeat in between. If you have extra mincemeat it can be warmed and spooned over vanilla ice cream.

Mincemeat: Place all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Then, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the mincemeat, stirring often, for about 25-30 minutes, or until the liquid is almost evaporated. Transfer the mincemeat to a large bowl and let it cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator, at least overnight, or up to a month. Note: If storing longer than a week, stir in a little rum or brandy (about 1/4 cup (60 ml)) every week.

Makes about 6 cups of Mincemeat.

Source:

Rodgers, Rick. 'Christmas 101'. William Morrow. New York: 1999.

Mincemeat:

2 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled and grated

1 -12 ounce (1 1/2 cups) (340 grams) can frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

1 cup (85 grams) dried apples, chopped

3/4 cup (120 grams) dark raisins

3/4 cup (120 grams) golden raisins

3/4 cup (90 grams) dried currants

3/4 cup (105 grams) dried cranberries

2/3 cup (120 grams) mixed candied peel

1/3 cup (60 grams) candied lemon peel

1/2 cup (105 grams) dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (120 ml) dark rum

1/2 cup (120 ml) brandy or cognac

4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

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