Homemade (sweet) Mincemeat

We have made it all the way to December already… That mean’s 2 things, Christmas is around the corner and bakemas is here.

Today I’m showing you how to make mincemeat, let’s get started shall we?

If you’re new around here, bakemas is my annual series where I uploaded various festive (and some not so festive) recipes, which will help you make and bake the best bits and pieces for your table, regardless of how you celebrate around Christmas time, there is something for everyone.

Something that most of you will have heard of is mincemeat and yes, it does sound like ground pork or beef but it’s evolved from that (in the past it has been a meat based filling) and become a fruity, sweet and spiced variety (which is much preferred by many). This is the perfect filling for mince pies or mincemeat streusel and the best thing about it? You can make it up to 6 months in advance as it matures and keeps getting better – YUM!

I recommend making this earlier than December but as long as it has about a week to mature a little, you’ll be as right as rain. When it comes to using the ground spices, feel free to change the amount of each used, that’s if you don’t like using a lot but you can’t really tell once it’s all combined, it works pretty well.

Seeing as this recipe is part of bakemas, I’ll keep the write up short and sweet as nobody has spare time around the Christmas period.

Ingredients:

185g Currants.

185g Raisins.

185g Sultanas.

95g Candied mixed peel.

35g Stem ginger, chopped.

150g Bramley apple, chopped.

125g Vegetable suet.

125g Demerara sugar.

35g Dark brown sugar.

1 tsp Ground cinnamon.

1 tsp Ground mixed spice.

1/4 tsp Ground nutmeg.

1/8 tsp Ground cloves.

165ml Brandy/whiskey (either works well).

 

Method: 

• Weigh up all of your ingredients into small bowls, this will save you from faffing around later on and prevent you from making mistakes with the amounts.
• Get yourself a large mixing bowl and place all of ingredients into the bowl.
• Give all the ingredients a good mix together until they are well combined.
• Once you’ve got your mincemeat made, divide it between 4 sterilised jars, filling almost to the top.
• Add a small circle of greaseproof/parchment paper on-top of the mincemeat in each jar, then secure the lid on and store.
• You’re best to store the made mincemeat in somewhere cool and dark, ideally in a normal food cupboard or in a pantry would work well also. Feel free to make this up to 6 months ahead of time, the alcohol in the mixture helps preserve the mixture. It will mature the longer you leave it, meaning it will develop a better taste.