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Homemade Christmas mincemeat in a glass jar beside unbaked mince pies in pastry cases.

Sweet Christmas Mincemeat

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Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: British, Christmas
Prep Time: 4 days
Total Time: 4 days 30 minutes
Servings: 4 jars

INGREDIENTS
 

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Add all your ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine and coat.
  • Leave the mixture to soak and marinade for a few days (2-4 days is ideal), stirring once a day to ensure everything is coated and soaked.
  • Spoon the mincemeat, using a slotted spoon, into sterilised jars. Fill the jars nearly full, but leave a little space at the top. You should get about 4 jars of mincemeat from this recipe. You may have some excess liquid - you can just discard this. Add the lids to the jars leave sealed until ready to use.
  • The flavour of homemade mincemeat will continue to develop overtime, but can be used straightaway, after the initial few days of soaking. Otherwise, store the mincemeat in a cool, dark place, within the sealed jars, until ready to use.

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IMPORTANT NOTE:

All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won't always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.

RECIPE NOTES:

Substitutions:

  • Suet: Vegetable suet is most common now, but beef suet works too if you want to give a nod to the "meat" in easy mincemeat.
  • Alcohol: Some luxury shop-bought mincemeat will contain alcohol (usually brandy), but your average jar of mincemeat won't. It's entirely up to you if you wish to add alcohol to your homemade Christmas mincemeat. I don't because it's not to my taste, but this recipe is entirely versatile, and you can add as much or as little alcohol as you'd like.
  • Fruit: You can use any mix of raisins, sultanas, currants, cranberries, or mixed peel... Just keep the overall weight the same.
  • Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar both work, but dark gives a richer flavour.
Sterilise Jars: As this is a no-cook recipe, clean, sterilised jars are essential. A quick wash of the jars and lids, and pop them in the oven at 140°C (120°C for fan-assisted ovens, Gas Mark 1, or 275°F) keeps everything sterile for long-term storage.
Storage: Homemade mincemeat keeps brilliantly, as long as you sterilise your jars - it also continues to develop in flavour. In sterilised jars, Christmas mincemeat will keep for up to a year in a sealed jar, stored in a cool, dark place. Of course, always exercise caution and check your mincemeat before using.
Serving: 1jar | Calories: 785kcal | Carbohydrates: 141g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 57mg | Potassium: 1002mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 93g | Vitamin A: 238IU | Vitamin C: 72mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is provided as a guide and is based on automatic calculations. Actual values may vary depending on the ingredients and brands used, how the recipe is prepared, and individual portion or serving sizes.

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