The festive period looms and it’s time to begin thinking about my Christmas Mince Pies and organising things to make the period as enjoyable and stress free as possible. And it’s particularly time for me to think about this year’s cranberry and whisky luxury mince pies. A bit of Christmas luxury perfect for entertaining with friends or as an indulgent treat. I need to get moving as our village craft fair takes place in a couple of weeks and a few of us chip in to provide treats and man the cake stall.

This is a rich cooked mincemeat for Christmas. It was first developed for a project in manufacturing mince pies for a butcher friend of mine some time ago. We made just over 250 and as I remember, and they all sold. At that time, we were also developing a range or real sausages and charcutier. I’ll cover some of this next year along with some smoked and BBQ items.

Mince pies of old.

Originally the mincemeat of old actually contained real meat.  The spices and flavourings were used to conceal the slightly ‘off’ nature of the leftover cooked  meat before any form of cold storage existed. Today the only remaining nod to this is suet in the mincemeat mix.

While most of this is now vegetable based rather than beef it can still leave a greasy finish in the mouth if its overdone. This recipe uses butter in place of the suet to give a richer, smoother mouth feel to the filling. Heating the dried fruits in orange juice gives the fruit a chance to rehydrate, become tender and take on the flavour of the spices.

 Cranberry and whisky Mincemeat

Makes 30 -40 small pies

120g                unsalted butter

Finely grated zest of a large orange

250ml              orange juice   

255g                soft light brown sugar            

2 ½ tsp            mixed spice                

¾   tsp             ground cinnamon                               

½    tsp            ground ginger                         

¼ tsp               nutmeg

1/8 tsp             salt                              

140g                grated bramley apples            

70g                  chopped walnuts or pecans    

130g                sultanas                                              

130g                raisins                                     

100g                dried cranberries                                 

60g                  mixed peel                  

50ml                blended whisky    

Making the mincemeat 

Take a large enough pan to take all the ingredients and be able to give the pan good mix together without losing any over the sides. Add all the dried fruit to the pan together with the spices, and salt.

Using a very fine grater remove the zest of the orange then remove the juice and make it up to 250ml using more fruit if needed. Add the juice and zest to the pan and bring to the simmer.

While the fruit is cooking, wash and coarsely grate the apple there’s no need to peel the fruit. Once the pan has been simmering for about five minutes add the apple, chopped nuts, and sugar to the pan.

Give everything a really good mix and simmer for another 10 to 12 minutes. The aromas of Christmas should now be filling the kitchen. We need to evaporate most of the orange juice into the dried fruits. To check if everything is ready pull the flat base of a silicone spatula across the base of the pan. If the gap fills with liquid immediately let the pan cook a little longer. When ready, lift the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool down until just warm.

Adding the butter.

Pop the butter into a small saucepan and place on the heat. Bring the butter to the boil and let it simmer for a minute or two. Skim off any scum that appears on the surface of the butter. Remove the pan from the heat and let the butter stand to sperate out the fat from the milky whey.

Once the butter has cooled but is not solidifying, remove any remaining scum and begin to decant the clear butterfat into the pan mixing it in as you do so. Use a small sieve if you have one, to catch any remaining scum. Make sure you fold the butter in well getting right down to bottom of the pan and lifting the mixture up so all the ingredients are coated in the butter.

Let the pan cool completely stirring from time to time. We need to insure the butter in mixed evenly through the mincemeat. If the mix is too warm or not folded in completely the butter fat will simply float to the surface on the mincemeat.

Stir in the whisky remembering to inhale as you do so, then transfer the mincemeat to a clean sterilised preserving jars or suitable container. 2 x ½ lt Kilner jars should be plenty. Cover the surface of the mincemeat with a disc of greaseproof paper, seal the lid. Place the jars into the fridge for at least a week to mature before making the pies.

If you wish the pastry can be made at the same time and frozen until needed.

Cinnamon sugar

80g                  caster sugar

½ tsp               ground cinnamon

Take a small container with a tight-fitting lid. Add the sugar and cinnamon, pop on the lid and shake well. Store in a cool dry place until needed.

For the pastry

500g                plain flour

125g                butter

125g                lard

Pinch salt

50g                  caster sugar

¾ tsp               baking powder

125ml              icy cold water

Cinnamon sugar to dust over

Makes roughly 15-20 small pies

Oven temperature 180˚c – 185˚c

Cooking time  14 to 17 minutes

This is almost a savoury pastry which might seem a little strange to some of you. The filling is packed with sugar, spices and fruit and wrapping this in a sweet pastry would just be overkill. We are also using a mixture of lard and butter for the fat content and baking powder in the dough wish will produce a very flaky light pastry. Go to the Food Files and have a look at       Getting to Grips with Pastry to get an insight into pastry making.

Dice the lard and butter then return to the fridge to firm up

Rubbing in the fat.

Place all the dry ingredients into a cold bowl the add the butter and lard. Cut the fats into the flour using a pastry knife and blend until a fine breadcrumb stage appears. Have a scraper on hand to clear the knife from time to time and make the process as easy as possible. When your mixture is ready add the water in two or three batches mixing each one in before adding the next.

Tip the contents of the bowl out onto the work surface and bring together to a pliable smooth dough. Keep everything cool and take care not to over work the dough. Only use the water you need to get the right consistency.

You can of course use a tabletop mixer you can make this pastry by hand. It does take some time to get the flour and fat to a breadcrumb stage and I think making it by hand with a pastry knife gives the best results as its less likely to be overworked.

Whatever way you make the pastry it must rest in the fridge for 1-2 hours. So simple cover in cling film and refrigerate.

When you are ready to make the mince pies remove the mincemeat from the fridge and stir in a bit more whisky if you wish.

lining the tins.

When the pastry is thoroughly rested divide the dough into 4 pieces. Lightly flour your work surface and roll the pastry out to around 3-4mm thick. Using a fluted pastry cutter, a bit larger than the moulds you are using, (small Yorkshire pudding tins are perfect) cut out and line the moulds rings, fill with your mincemeat, and cut another disc as a lid and lay it on top of the mincemeat tucking in the edges. Using the point of a knife make a small cross in the centre of each lid to allow stream to escape.

Baking.

Sprinkle the lids with a pinch of cinnamon sugar and bake in a 185˚c (fan oven) 210˚c (conventional oven) for roughly 14-17 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let stand for five minutes then lift from the baking tray and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar, let them cool a little more before serving as the filling will be too hot to eat.

If making the pies in advance warm gently before serving to get the best flavour and texture. You can be traditional and serve with brandy butter if you wish, but I prefer a dollop of creme’ fraiche on top.

Enjoy Life!

John.

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©John Webber. 2023