The suet is ready in the fridge. All the dried fruits and candied orange have been procured. A new bottle of brandy was purchased this morning for the event. Now it’s time to make the mincemeat.
Here’s my final ingredient list. I don’t cook with measuring cups (except for the brown sugar), instead relying on a more accurate digital scale, so if you want to do this at home, either buy a scale or eyeball everything. Mincemeat is forgiving, so go for it.
Everything except the suet, almond extract and brandy
8-oz. golden raisins
4-oz. currants
1.5-oz. black raisins (one of those small boxes you stick in lunchboxes)
2-oz. candied orange peel (I buy mine from King Arthur Flour)
2-oz. blanched almonds, chopped finely
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3-oz. suet
Zest and juice from 3 clementine oranges
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 tbsp. brandy
Dump everything, except the almond extract and brandy, into a heavy 3-qt. or larger saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently. Eventually the brown sugar will melt into the suet, leaving the fruits all glossy and extremely fragrant.
Once everything’s all melty and fragrant (about 7 minutes), turn off the heat and stir in the almond extract and brandy. Give the mincemeat a final stir, then pack it into glass jars before storing it in the fridge. I like to let my mincemeat sit for a couple weeks before using it; it gets even tastier. But if you can’t wait, feel free to use it immediately. It’s delicious over ice cream, stirred into yogurt, and of course, baked in a pie. The yield here is enough mincemeat for a 9″ pie.
Now, the big question. How does my mincemeat compare to the orange almond mincemeat I had at Neal’s Yard Dairy? It stacked up pretty well, thank you. The mincemeat I had in London didn’t have any dark raisins or currants that I remember (they may have stuck only with golden raisins and maybe apple), but my mincemeat has a distinct orange flavor, thanks to the excellent quality of candied peel I used and clementine zest, and the almond flavor was very subtle and nice. Oh, and my kitchen smelled heavenly while this was cooking on the stovetop.
Next week, I’ll bake this into mincemeat tartlets for Christmas Day dessert. Stay tuned.
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Yu-um!
Mince pies! rather than tartlets
hi.. i haven’t made your mincemeat yet.. but the recipe sounds fantastic.. i’m going to add some grated apples in mine on top of yours. but thank you very much for your tips.