Mincemeat

So for people who like their mince pies full of fruit rather than brownish sugar syrup it is easy as pie to make your own, you just chuck everything in a bowl and stir thoroughly:

1/2lb of sultanas

1/2lb of raisins

1/2lb of currants

glace cherries, chopped (if you like them)

one large cooking apple, peeled and then grated

1/4lb of suet (you can get vegetarian if you prefer)

1/2lb of dark soft brown sugar (definitely not demerara sugar as it is crunchy but light soft brown is ok, dark just has more flavour)

zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon

juice of 2 oranges and 1 lemon (I also tend to add more orange juice if it seems a bit dry, the whole thing should be 'shiny' with juice)

2 teaspoons of mixed spice (you can add extra cinnamon/nutmeg/ginger or whatever is your favourite)

This is half remembered from when we used to make it at Guides for sale at the Christmas Grotto. Feel free to add things like nuts if you like them, or just use what you have in the cupboard, we had no raisins so I used more of the other two fruits. If you make a lot of pies you can easily multiply up this recipe. Mix in a large bowl and cover and allow the fruit to absorb the juice. I usually add some more juice the following day. It will keep well for a week or so if you put it in nice clean jam jars. This quantity will probably do 4/5 dozen mince pies. I am not so keen on lots of pastry (am also a very poor pastry maker) so I bake them without tops (cover with foil to stop the fruit burning) and top with a thick layer of water icing (that's just icing sugar and water). Enjoy.