Michelle Darmody: How to make Christmas mincemeat — and the mistakes to avoid

Mincemeat - raisins, cranberries, lemon, orange peel with whiskey and suet

It is that time of year again, Christmas is fast approaching and it is time to get the mince, cakes and puddings made. 

In fact, there are some who would say the Christmas mince should be made well before now. 

The spices, alcohol and fruit need time to settle in advance of the festive season. 

This settling maximises the blending of flavours and allows the fruit to swell and plump up with all the juices and rich, dark rum.

As with a lot of Christmas baking, it is the weighing and stirring that take centre stage when making mince. 

In many traditional recipes you do not include the first step of heating the apples, fruit and spices together. 

I find however, particularly if I have only weeks to go before Christmas, that this method works best. 

Heating everything gets the process started and the addition of apples brings juiciness to the mince. 

There is the added bonus of having the wonderful smells fill your kitchen, bringing anticipation of the delicious mince pies to come.

Traditionally mince pies were made in little rectangle shapes to resemble the manger and often had a pastry baby sitting on the top. 

These early pies contained meat, as the name still suggests. 

When I am making mince pies I like to use a star of pastry on the top or each one. 

I find this gives the best ratio of pastry to mincemeat, and does not overwhelm the wonderful flavours nestled below.

Christmas Mincemeat

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

The spices, alcohol and fruit need time to settle in advance of the festive season. This settling maximises the blending of flavours. Makes around 2kg.

Preparation Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 2 large apples, peeled, cored and grated

• 500g sultanas

• 350g raisins

• 200g chopped peel

• 4 tsp mixed spice

• 2 tsp ground ginger

• 2 tsp ground cloves

• 2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

• 500g nuts, finely chopped

• 200mls dark rum

• zest 2 oranges, plus the juice 4

• zest and juice 2 lemons

• 350g dark muscovado sugar

• 200g suet

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients except the muscovado sugar and suet in a large saucepan.

2. Place over a low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until the fruit has plumped up and most of the liquid has evaporated but it isn’t dry.

3. Set aside to cool, then stir in the muscovado sugar

4. Stir in the suet.

5. Sterilise your jars in a hot oven after washing them.

6. Divide the mincemeat between the hot jars and set aside to cool.

Baker's tips

• Traditional suet is made from the fat of either a cow or sheep. It is worth looking for a vegetarian version, of which there are many, if you think those eating the mince pies may not like to eat animal products.
• Sterilising the jars is an important step. I tend to put the stopper into my sink and add the jars and lids, then pour in two kettles of boiling water over the jars. Heat your oven to 180°C while the jars are in the water. Then when they are cool enough to handle, place them into the oven to dry completely. Again once you can handle them, but they are still hot, fill the dried jars with your mincemeat. Do not place the lids into the oven, simply ensure they are dried well with a tea towel when you take them out of the sink. Most lids have a seal that is made of either plastic or rubber and this will get damaged if they are placed into a hot oven.
• If you are going to store your mince for a longer period it can be beneficial to add a wax paper disc on top of the mince before sealing the jar with a lid. This sits right on top of the mince and creates an extra seal to protect it from the air. Exposure to air is what causes degradation of preserves such as mincemeat or jams.
• There are great versions of mincemeat available to buy in shops, but others can disappoint. If you want to jazz up some dry shop bought mincemeat you can always add a dash of rum or brandy and let it sit for a week or so before using. The alcohol will evaporate as the mince is baked but it will enhance the flavours throughout.
• It is best to store your jars in a cool, dark cupboard until needed.

3 delicious variations

Cranberry filled mincemeat

Cranberries are synonymous with the Christmas dinner table and adding them to the mincemeat for dessert works very well, in place of 150g of the raisins add 150g of dried cranberries. 

They will be a little tarter in flavour and add great colour. You could also add some glacé cherries or dried apricots in place of some of the sultanas or peel.

Zesty orange mincemeat

For this version you can use Grand Marnier liqueur in place of the 200mls of dark rum, and replace the zest of the two lemons with some more orange zest. 

For an extra burst of orange flavour add candied orange peel in place of 100g of the sultanas.

Apple and mincemeat crumble

Mincemeat is not just for Christmas. Mincemeat ice cream is a delicious thing, or mince can be used in place of cinnamon paste in a pastry swirl. 

One of my favourite uses is in an apple crumble. I add about two tablespoons to the sliced apple before topping it with the crumble.