Recipe: Cranberry Mincemeat Mince Pies

One of the things we love here at Dimpsey during the run up to Christmas is all the Christmas baking we get to do! Obviously it goes without saying that we need to try them ourselves before we hand them over to our guests 😉 What a shame!

We have just started to make these sumptuous cranberry mincemeat pies, using of course, our very own homemade sloe gin. How can anyone resist these little morsels of Christmas?

We used an adapted mincemeat recipe from Delia Smith’s Winter Cookbook and also the main mince pie recipe from The Classic Rayburn Cookbook by Louise Walker.  Below are the recipes, just swap the brandy for sloe gin!

MINCE PIE RECIPE

This is a ‘classic’ book so I thought it would be great to show you the actual book itself and the recipe. Don’t you just love old cookbooks? 🙂

MINCEMEAT RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) fresh cranberries
• 8 oz (225 g) Bramley apples, unpeeled, cored and chopped small
• 8 oz (225 g) shredded suet
• 12 oz (350 g) raisins
• 8 oz (225 g) sultanas
• 8 oz (225 g) currants
• 8 oz (225 g) whole mixed candied peel, finely chopped
• 12 oz (350 g) soft dark brown sugar
• grated zest and juice 2 oranges
• grated zest and juice 2 lemons
• 2 oz (50 g) whole almonds, cut into slivers
• 4 level teaspoons mixed ground spice
• ½ level teaspoon ground cinnamon
• fresh nutmeg, grated
• 6 tablespoons sloe gin

Method

(credit to the Delia Online website)

1. All you do is combine the above ingredients, except for the brandy, in a large ovenproof mixing bowl, stirring and mixing them together very thoroughly indeed.
2. Then cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave the mixture in a cool place overnight or for 12 hours, so the flavours have a chance to mingle and develop.
3. After that pre-heat the oven to gas mark ¼, 225°F (120°C).
4. Then cover the bowl loosely with foil and place in the oven for 3 hours.
5. Then remove the bowl from the oven. Don’t worry about the appearance of the mincemeat – it will look as if it is positively swimming in fat, but this is how it should look.
6. As it cools, stir it from time to time: the fat will coagulate.
7. When the mincemeat is quite cold, stir in the brandy. Pack in the jars, which have been washed, dried and heated in a moderate oven for 5 minutes to sterilise, cover with waxed discs and seal. It will keep indefinitely in a cool, dry cupboard, but I think it is best eaten within a year of making.