Mince Pies - Anyone making any?

Atari

Atari

Atari

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Anyone making their own mince pies this year?

After having a really bad one, I thought I'd try my hand at making some so I recently followed Delia's recipe for mincemeat and I'm gonna whip some pies up in about a week or two (once the mincemeat flavours have developed a little more).

Anyone made their own and got any tips/recipes for the pastry?

Cheers :)
 
I always make my own.

You can make mincemeat very quickly by simply letting the ingredients simmer for 30-45 minutes. No need to let them sit for weeks.
 
The Mrs does her own sometimes, along with Xmas Pud. One of those "handed down through generations of female family members" things.

Both mixtures tend to get made up around beginning of October and sit until about the 20th... but then, she periodically "feeds" them with alcoholic stuffs along the way. Apparently they like the expensive sauce...

Boozy pudings are eating me out of house and home!!
 
I'm planning on splitting my mincemeat into two containers as I've made a lot of the stuff - one to sit in a dark cupboard until next year (with the obligatory boozy top ups), and the other which I'll let sit for a week or two just to let all the flavours mix.



D.P. said:
I always make my own.

You can make mincemeat very quickly by simply letting the ingredients simmer for 30-45 minutes. No need to let them sit for weeks.
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Do you find much of a flavour difference if you make it this way compared to say letting them sit for a few weeks in a cool dark place?

What do you guys do for the pastry? Any tasty recipes I could replicate? As it's only for a few weeks of the year, I'm going to go as indulgent as I can, lashings of butter and all manner of things not very healthy :p
 
Atari said:
Do you find much of a flavour difference if you make it this way compared to say letting them sit for a few weeks in a cool dark place?
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Honestly, I would probably say it is tastier than letting the ingredients sit for weeks on end. A lot of aromatics oxidize so letting things sit for weeks is not always going to be helpful, its like grinding coffee beans and letting it sit out for weeks before making coffee.
 
D.P. said:
Honestly, I would probably say it is tastier than letting the ingredients sit for weeks on end. A lot of aromatics oxidize so letting things sit for weeks is not always going to be helpful, its like grinding coffee beans and letting it sit out for weeks before making coffee.
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Fair play - that makes sense. I cooked the lot last night and gave it a good stir every hour, need to add copious amounts of brandy tonight and will make up a batch. The rest can sit in a jar for a week or two and I'll get those made up once it's December so I can blame the 10 or so I'll eat a day on Christmas :p :D
 
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you can always make mincemeat in advance and freeze it -

Usually make shortcrust for the cases (shared w/ sausage rolls) have never made puff pastry though, perhaps possible to freeze that in advance too.
 
WillyNelson said:
Always. Every year.

I buy the mincemeat though. Ain't got no time for makin my own! :D
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It takes about 10 minutes effort.

Pretty much throw a load of dried fruit into a sauce pan with some sugar, butter and orange juice, Your usual Xmas spices and some fine grated orange and/or peel. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes while you get on with your life, or make the pastry.
 
D.P. said:
It takes about 10 minutes effort.

Pretty much throw a load of dried fruit into a sauce pan with some sugar, butter and orange juice, Your usual Xmas spices and some fine grated orange and/or peel. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes while you get on with your life, or make the pastry.
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This.

I was surprised how easy it was to make - definitely tastes much better than a lot of store bought ones I've had.
 
D.P. said:
It takes about 10 minutes effort.

Pretty much throw a load of dried fruit into a sauce pan with some sugar, butter and orange juice, Your usual Xmas spices and some fine grated orange and/or peel. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes while you get on with your life, or make the pastry.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, might give that a crack then.
 
god, really, it's the one thing I miss from Christmas, but have no idea how to make mincemeat! This is a weird question, but why is it called meat - does it contain meat?

More posts on how to make mincemeat please! (bearing in mind I live in China, so some things I might not be able to buy)
 
Anchundan said:
god, really, it's the one thing I miss from Christmas, but have no idea how to make mincemeat! This is a weird question, but why is it called meat - does it contain meat?

More posts on how to make mincemeat please! (bearing in mind I live in China, so some things I might not be able to buy)
Click to expand...

It's super easy - I made it for the first time this year and was pleasantly surprised. I'd guess you should be able to get much of it quite easily even in China:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/home-made-christmas-mincemeat

That's the recipe I followed, only substitution was to use vegetable suet, and to add copious amounts of brandy (could barely taste it with the 7 or so spoons the recipe asked for :p )
 
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