Best mincemeat recipe for mince pies and puddings
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Christmas, Desserts | 108 comments
Mince pies are the quintessential Christmas treat. But every year loads of us bite into a proffered mince pie and resolve never to accept one again. it’s a shame as nothing beats a homemade one, bursting with mincemeat and a slug of brandy. I always make a few on Christmas Eve. I was pretty smug about them until Anne Mary mentioned that she always made her own mincemeat. I’m embarrassed to admit this but five years ago I didn’t know that you could make your own. I rushed home and thumbed through our cookbooks, convinced that it would be a complicated grinding, sieving, mincing process. It’s not. It’s really easy.
There was one major drawback, most of the recipes that I found produced mincemeat with a short shelf life. The apples often start to ferment after a couple of months. I didn’t want to make just the one jar or a batch to give away labeled “Unstable contents. Eat me within two months as I might explode”.
Then I struck gold, Delia Smith’s ‘Complete Illustrated Cookery Course’ includes a recipe that solves the fermentation problem. We have tweaked it over the years and now just stick to the original with one exception. We replace the candied peel (we are not fans) with halved glacé cherries (we’re addicted to these). We add the cherries with the brandy when the mincemeat comes out of the oven and has cooled down. Delia’s mincemeat recipe is simple to make and absolutely delicious. Luckily she has published the recipe on her website and the link is here.
Great mincemeat is not just for mince pies at Christmas. Delia has a lot of recipe ideas for puddings on her site that are worth checking out. Danny stuffed cooking apples with a jar of mincemeat that he found loitering in the fridge. Baked for for 40 minutes in a moderate oven they have become one of our favourite puds at this time of year.
Tips and tips:
- If you are pressed for time you can adapt shop bought mincemeat by adding a small handful of halved glacé cherries and sultanas soaked overnight in brandy. Always add a teaspoon of brandy to shop mince pies. The best shop bought mince pies are the luxury ones from M&S and Waitrose.
- Update November 2009:
- As Delia says the mincemeat has a really long shelflife. I opened a jar from our 2006 batch tonight and it’s fine!
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Hi, I too enjoy ‘Delia’recipies, yes the mincemeat is heavenly especially with the addition of slivers of almonds, pecans added aswell as the ground almonds. I too wash my dried fruit,lay to dry on sterile T.Towels, soak in brandy overnight (fruit plumps up beautifully),omit the peel and add halved cherries! Guess we have the same tastes…..I do this for Christmas cakes, puddings also.
The reason that I have the palaver of ‘washing the dried fruit is have you ever saw the stalks,mouldly looking fruit pips that is in so called ready washed fruit?
This method is time consuming but well worth it, it’s good to know those ‘bits’ that you’re crunching on are nuts….or perhaps I am for being so particular! LOL ‘FOOD FOR THOUGHT’ though!
Lv Odelle X.
@ Diane. In theory, you’d need to kill off the yeast, or at least slow it down (fermentation is when yeast eats the sugar and produces alcohol as a by product)… I’d try freezing the batch for about a week and then either keeping it in the freezer or if you’re feeling brave, take it out and see what happens!
Next time, make sure you wash all the fruit thoroughly – it could be that some natural yeast worked its way in on the apples or something – it’s the white dusting you sometimes see.
Anyhow, I’m just about to make this recipe again. Did it last year with added glace cherries and chopped almonds to give it a bit of crunch. I’m actually considering giving it away as a present to my expat friends!
It fermented last year too, I’ve used this recipe for years now and before it’s always been fine, but last year I put extra booze in it and it seemed to ferment , I used it all the same and it was fine, but I just happened to do the same again this year (did I not learn last time)I wondered if anyone new a way to stop the fermenting as the juice oozes out the tops!!!!!
the mince pies tastes lovely especially with an almond topping , one just isn’t enough…
I’ve made my mincemeat, I put extra booze in it and now it’s fermenting !!! What can I do , it’s leaking out of the jars. Please help!!!!
Hi Diane
I have no ide how you deal with this problem. Did you use the Delia recipe ? It’s the only one that I have found that keeps for years literally.
OK! – and thanks for replying so quickly. Maybe I’ll make a small batch in the microwave and see what happens…
Hi there, this might sound like heresy – for which I apologise in advance – but is it possible to make this in the microwave instead of in a conventional oven?
Many thanks.
Hi Ann
I can’t really help you as I’ve no experience of microwave ovens. If you can bake in yours I would imagine that you could bake the mincemeat too.
I live in Germany and can’t get Bramley’s. What can i substitute them for?
Hi Candy
Any cooking apple will do. If they are not available use tart eating apples and two tablespoons of lemon juice.
I’ve just made this recipe, smells and tastes delicious, but I don’t have enough of it to fill my large Kilner Jar, it’s about 2″ from the top. Will this still keep ok? I have put baking parchment discs on top of the mincemeat and as per Delia’s instructions, I put it in the sterilised jar once it had gone cold.
I’ve never made mincemeat before so I’m afraid I won’t notice if it goes off because of the gap.
Next time I think I’ll grate the apples as a previous poster did because I think my small chunks of apple are a bit ‘obvious’.
So hoping the batch I’ve made will be ok, it smells so good already! I’ve kept the sealed jar in the fridge just in case!
Hi Jac
I’m sorry but I don’t know the answer to your question. I would advise to leave it for 24 hours and then unclip the metal and test the seal. If it is secure I would say that everything is OK.
Hi Janet
Something has gone wrong as Delia’s mincemeat shouldn’t ferment.
I wouldn’t take a chance with it if I was you.
my Delia recipe mincemeat is fermenting.! can I still use it safely?