Today I am making a batch of traditional mincemeat and some mince pies ready for the Christmas
season.
For this you will need:
Ox tongue, or a leftover Sunday lunch.
Currants.
Minced apples.
Suet.
Raisins.
Some candied peel.
Two boiled lemons, and two grated lemons.
Ginger.
Pounded mace.
Nutmeg.
Brandy.
Sherry or Madeira.
Fine sugar.
Some shortcrust pastry.
Lord and Lady Braybrooke like traditional mincemeat, so I’m adding an ox tongue.
You could add left over Sunday roast or any meat that your budget allows.
Nowadays it’s more fashionable not to add meat but we’re very traditional here at
Audley End House.
Next the suet.
I’m going to add the raisins.
And now the currants.
As you can see, I’m making a lot.
In the lead up to Christmas the shooting season is very busy so we’ll have a lot of visitors.
Now it is time for the apples.
And the candied peel.
It’s a good job Sarah let me borrow this large tub from the laundry.
Adding in the inside of the boiled lemons, and the grated lemon peel is really going
to give this a wonderful flavour.
Add plenty of fine sugar.
And two large pinches of salt.
And now my favourite bit, the spices.
Some ginger, mace and nutmeg.
And finally add the sherry and brandy.
And now give it a really good mix.
It is quite hard work mixing it, but it smells delightful.
Mary-Anne, my first Kitchen Maid, has made me some shortcrust pastry.
I’m going to use these for the mince pies, but you could use puff pastry if you wanted.
Now that it is rolled nice and thin, I cut out the pieces and lay it in an already lined
patty tin.
Now it’s time to use your mincemeat.
Don’t overfill the little pies.
And for a topping, you can use either pastry, but I prefer meringue icing.
Bake in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them.
Now they’ve come out of the oven, I can just put them on the rack to cool.
Here we have traditional mince pies, with traditional mincemeat.