Christmas Mince

I'm on a mission to reproduce the yummy little mince pies that are all over the UK at Christmas time. First I made "mixed Peel" and then last week I tackled the mince itself.

I knew I was going to want to substitute something for the "shredded suet" so that my daughter could partake, and though I discovered that there is a vegetarien suet out there, I wasn't willing to wait for it to be delivered. I decided to use vegetable shortening instead, which I measured out, froze and then grated.

After a lot of research I combined several recipes and ended up with the one below. All of the recipes were British and I made Jack convert from grams to ounces and then, being an American used to measurements in cups and fractions of cups, I eyeballed everything.

I've done a test-run, and it really does taste very much like the little pies I remember eating in London.

Christmas Mince

This recipe uses a food processor and results in a thick paste which is not so pretty, but which held up really well in my test-run pies. I think next time I'll double the recipe, as all of us loving it and eating the little pies as fast as I can make them.

1 lemon
6 oz. raisins
6 oz. golden raisins
3 oz. mixed peel
1 apple, washed and cut into quarters
6 oz. currants
6 oz. brown sugar
6 oz. very cold (frozen) vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
4 tbsp. dark rum, brandy or whisky

Wash the lemon and boil it (whole) for about 1 hour or until soft. Let it cool and cut it in half, pulling out the seeds.

Place the lemon, rind, pulp and juice in a food processor along with the raisins, mixed peel, apples and process to a thick paste.

Tip the paste into a large bowl and grate the frozen shortening over it. Add the currants, sugar and spices. Mix well and add the alcohol. Spoon the mince into clean jars and store in the refigerator.

Comments

[Karyn]

Thanks for telling me about Sur La Table. I'm browsing the cookie cutters now . . . The holiday Linzertorte collection would be excellent for cutting designs into mini pies! (My brain is working one way right now. I'm going to have to get myself in control - right now, I'm half afraid that I'm going to bake biscotti into pie shapes).

Glad to hear your mince experimentations are going so wonderfully. I made (non pastry) pie last night - I just have to get my mother to replace all of the expensive baking supplies that she snacked on, and now refuses to replace, because they're expensive! I might just have to give in and replace my nuts, dried fruits, etc: my mother buying (and then staying out of) my cooking supplies is about as likely as my father replacing any of the beer he has stolen from me over the past three years. :)

[Zenchef]

Yay!!! the mince recipe! I'm gonna use it on big bossman for Christmas and if i get a big fat bonus as a result i'll share with ya. Deal? hehehe

[Manggy]

Actually... I've never had mince before. Do not even know what's in it and what it looks like. I would have guessed ground beef for some reason. Thanks for clearing it up for me :) Very curious about what vegetarian suet actually is!

[myfrenchkitchen]

I woyulod love to have a mince pie with my coffe right now(at 6 in the morning!)
ronell

[Michelle]

When I was growing up, we had a neighbor who made [all fruit] mincemeat late every summer and - come winter - made THE MOST wonderful mincemeat cookies. :)