Little girls, as the nursury rhyme goes, are made of sugar and spice and all things nice. Whilst some may point to the outdated gender stereotype reflected, others may argue that little girls should not be understood in just organic terms, as human beings that grow from girlhood into womanhood, or be defined by the actions they fulfil. Rather, they should be thought of "in terms of their movements and the intensive affects of which they are capable".
Made of the same stuff as little girls, mince pies have long been one of my favourite Christmas sweets. We never made them when I was a little girl; they were not part of our holiday traditions. Years later, when I started making them myself, I used to buy mincemeat, although I would make my own pastry for the pies. But lately I've decided to have fun with the ingredients and make my own mincemeat; to indulge in the warm aroma of winter spices and fine spirits.
Traditionally, mincemeat is made with suet but I prefer to use butter because I find it gives it a much nicer gloss and an intense dark colour.
(This is an adaptation from Good Housekeeping, with some modifications)
Ingredients
150 g raisins
150 g sultanas
130 g currants
80 g dried cranberries
50 g dried apricots, chopped
120 g glacé cherries, chopped
70 g mixed peel
50 g mandarin peel preserve in syrup, drained*
1 cooking apple (about 300 g), peeled, cored and grated (I prefer Bramley)
125 g butter, cut into cubes
50 g whole blanched almonds, finely chopped
1 ½ tsp mixed spice
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground ginger
finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange or 2 mandarins (30 ml), strained
125 g cold butter, grated
175 g light muscovado sugar
250 ml cognac or brandy
45 ml Cointreau
150 g raisins
150 g sultanas
130 g currants
80 g dried cranberries
50 g dried apricots, chopped
120 g glacé cherries, chopped
70 g mixed peel
50 g mandarin peel preserve in syrup, drained*
1 cooking apple (about 300 g), peeled, cored and grated (I prefer Bramley)
125 g butter, cut into cubes
50 g whole blanched almonds, finely chopped
1 ½ tsp mixed spice
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground ginger
finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange or 2 mandarins (30 ml), strained
125 g cold butter, grated
175 g light muscovado sugar
250 ml cognac or brandy
45 ml Cointreau
It makes 4 jars of 350 g.
* If you can't find mandarin peel preserve, you can replace it with mixed peel or dried cranberries or any other dried fruit of your preference. You can also change the proportions of the dried fruit to suit your taste as long as the overall quantity remains the same.
Combine the first 8 ingredients (800 g fruit and peel) in a glass bowl and mix with 125 ml cognac and 30 ml orange or mandarin juice. Stir, cover with clingfilm and let soak for a couple of days in a cool dark place. Stir occasionally or once a day.
Next, tip the contents of the bowl into a saucepan. Add all remaining dry ingredients and spices as well as 80 ml cognac. Heat gently until butter has melted, then simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring accasionally. Take care so that it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan.
Cool for a few minutes, then stir through the remaining 45 ml cognac and 45 ml Cointreau. Spoon into sterilised jars, pressing down well to exclude any air bubbles. Seal tightly and turn upside down to remove the air. When the jars have cooled completely, store in an upright position in a cool dark place.
Mary Berry suggests that you can make the mincemeat six months ahead. I usually make it a couple of months in advance not only because this allows the flavours to mingle but also because it takes off some of the stress of Christmas preparations.
When making the mince pies, I empty the contents of the jar into a saucepan and warm gently with 1-3 tbsp cognac before filling up the pies.
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