How early can I make my mincemeat?

[happygertie]

I make my own mincemeat every year and give out to family as well as making a load of mince pies for work, friends, family. I’m itching to start making the mincemeat now and store in a cool dark place til mince pie season, but is it too early? Google says 6 weeks but I’m thinking of stored in sterile jars it would last much longer. Does anyone make it this early and has anyone successfully stored it for 3 months + ?

I’ve kept it for well over a year. I put plenty of alcohol in it though

Ah I don’t like alcohol in mine. Plenty of sugar though.

Make it now. It will be fine. I’ve still got some pots left from last year. Do you cook yours? The only thing I was thinking is that the apple might start to ferment if you don’t.

I'm not sure because I would put booze in mine too and it's still fine to use the following year. But I think the main reason people wait is because you do it in apple season. So if you're not waiting for a glut of apples then you can probably do it now.

Yes I cook mine before it is jarred

Gosh this thread makes me happy!

Me too! Also.....I think we should get to know the OP much better so that we can be gifted delicious mince pies 😁

Haha if I could make them for everyone I would, I absolutely love making them, it’s the most Christmassy activity, plus without sounding bragy they are bloody delicious 😋

🥰❤️

Can any of you experts tell me whether a recipe exists for Xmas mincemeat without apple in? I just can’t eat apple any more.

Or am I kidding myself?

This has inspired me to make some this year - if anyone has a recipe they wouldn’t mind sharing I’d be forever grateful!

Yes, I have a recipe which uses rhubarb instead of apple. How are you with pears? I also made a pear and chocolate mincemeat one year. I added some Poire William Eau de vie instead of brandy, and it worked well.

@TremendousBanana you could use any recipe and just omit the apple, maybe add pear instead, or some dried apricots?

@Ellopalmine is just equal parts sultanas, raisins, currants, apple, vegetable suet and brown sugar. Then add cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger to taste with with the zest and juice of one orange and lemon per 125g of each fruit so if I do 500g of each fruit and sugar then it would be 4 oranges and lemons. I leave mine to steep overnight then bake at 100fan for one hour , give it a good stir as the suet will have melted then place in sterile jars and store somewhere cool and dark until ready to use

I generally use the recipe from Delia Smith’s Christmas cookbook. You have to cook it in a very low oven, which means that it keeps well as the apple doesn’t ferment. You can also play around with the dried fruit proportions - my FIL can’t stand dried peel, so I add cherries instead, and I stir in half a jar of Romanian magiar de prune, which goes well with it (it’s like jam made out of prunes, you should be able to find it in a local Polish/Romanian shop.

Thanks both!

I’ve made mine tonight with my daughter. I got my recipe off BBC good food website.

You can definitely omit the apple entirely. I treat mincemeat like I do chutney; anything goes. Add pear, quince, apricots, dates or just use the usual dried fruits. Add in some dried cranberries to bulk out the usual dried fruits for a bit of a change and also a bit of colour. You can also add some flaked almonds. Also, don't be afraid to use different alcohol. I did a mix of Brandy and Amaretto last year.