Fruity Mincemeat
It doesn’t feel like Christmas until I get the mixed spice or the cinnamon out to start baking. I thought I would get the ball rolling with a lovely suet-free recipe I found in the November edition of Sainsburys magazine, perfect for vegetarians and those who are trying to reduce the saturated fat in their diet. Apparently, around 7000 calories are consumed on Christmas day with each mince pie containing 500 or more calories, depending on how big they are, of course. It is Christmas so it’s nice to indulge but at the same time I was pleased to find a recipe that is still tasty but slightly healthier.
I have adapted the original recipe slightly as I like to try to use what I have in the cupboard instead of making a special trip to the shops. The original recipe contained dried figs; I used dried apricots which are high in iron but any dried fruit could be substituted. Dried mango, papaya or pineapple would give it a Caribbean flavour, for example. If you wanted to use up some fresh cranberries instead of buying frozen, this would also work. Muscovado sugar gives food products a nice caramel flavour but any sugar you have in the cupboard would be fine. Amaretto was used in the original recipe but I used a ginger liqueur. Again any of your favourite tipples would work. This was great for using up some of the apples from my garden too; we have had a very good harvest again this year so any tips on how to use up my mountain of apples would be gratefully received.
Ingredients
- 1 cooking apple, peeled and coarsely grated
- 150g frozen cranberries
- 75g light muscovado sugar (or maple syrup for vegans)
- 2 tsp ground mixed spice
- 100g chopped dried apricots
- 150g sultanas
- 50g chopped almonds
- finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
- 2 tbsp liqueur
Method
Then all that is needed is for you to stir in the liqueur and pour into sterilised jars. It can be stored for up to a month or can be frozen for up to 6 months. I found the resulting mincemeat, in spite of all the fruit, much less sweet than shop bought mincemeat. It would make a lovely Christmas present or if you wanted to use it now to make mince pies these could be frozen uncooked. Then you are ready for any unexpected guests; just cook from frozen in a medium oven.
