Fruit Mincemeat

As the fruit mince meat simmers on the stove and fills my flat with a cosy Christmas smell, a nostalgic feeling fills my mind of Christmas time in the U.K.  One thing I love about Christmas is all the festive food available this time of year, particularly the sweet treats.

Nothing says Christmas quite like the smell of festive baking.  Usually, I love making mince pies during Christmas and this year I wanted to make some to remind me of home.  I just had one problem!  Fruit mincemeat isn't a thing here in Colombia so I was going to have to make a recipe from scratch if I could get hold of all the ingredients.  I tried out this simple recipe which turned out really well.  I like it because it's a healthy option if you don't want to add alcohol to the mixture, which is usually suggested in most recipes.  You can add a bit of brandy or sherry to this recipe but I chose to make it without.

The recipe is enough for approximately 20 mince pies but you could double the recipe if you wanted to make more.  I think it would also make a great gift for friends and family in little Kilner jars.

Here's how I made mine;

Ingredients

• 250g apples*
• 125g raisins
• 50g dried cranberries
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 
• 250ml orange juice
• 1 cinnamon stick

* red apples such as, pink lady or gala are good apples to use as they are naturally sweet

Method

1. Finely dice the apples (with the skins on).
2. Combine the apples, raisins and cranberries into a pan.
3. Add the orange juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla essence and orange zest.
4. Cover the pan and simmer on a gentle heat for 30 minutes, stirring every now and again.
5. Add a little more orange juice if needed and simmer for another 30 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat, if you want you could add a slash of brandy or sherry to make it a little more festive.  The fruit mince meat is now ready to enjoy (my mince pie recipe is coming very soon).

I couldn't believe how easy it was to make this.  I'm planning to use this fruit mix to make some mince pies, this recipe will be coming to my blog soon so keep an eye out for that.  I can't wait to enjoy a festive mince pie whilst watching a nice Christmas film.


What are your favourite things to bake at Christmas time?  What are your Christmas baking traditions?  Will you be trying out this recipe?  I'd love to know!  Leave a message in the comments!