Cherry mincemeat

Name: Cherry mincemeat
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 2 h 10 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: Makes around 1.7kg
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: 1.2kg bramley apples (about 5), peeled, cored and cut roughly into 2cm pieces; Juice and zest 3 oranges (weigh the dried fruit and zest the oranges directly onto it, so you don’t lose any fragrant oils); 500g crisp eating apples (about 3), such as russets or braeburns, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm cubes; 400g jar good cherries in syrup – use the precious syrup too, don’t discard it, pour it in there with the rest; 200g currants; 200g raisins; 200g sultanas; 150g blanched almonds, roughly chopped; 120g good cherry jam (we used Bonne Maman Black Cherry Conserve); 125g demerara sugar; 125g light muscovado sugar; Juice 2 lemons; 2 tbsp ground ginger; ½ nutmeg, grated; ½ tsp salt; ½ tsp ground cardamom; ½ tsp ground cloves; 150ml kirsch; You’ll also need; Sterilised jars with lids

2 Reviews

Portion size: Makes around 1.7kg
Hands-on time 20 min, plus macerating and cooling time
Difficulty: easy

Dairy-free

Gluten-free

Vegan

Recipe by: Debora Robertson

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Debora Robertson’s cherry mincemeat makes a zesty, fruity mince pie filling and is vegan-friendly to boot. Perfect for Christmas food gifts.

Once your mincemeat has had time to mature and develop those delicious fruity flavours, use it to make a round of our classic mince pies.

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Ingredients

1.2kg bramley apples (about 5), peeled, cored and cut roughly into 2cm pieces
Juice and zest 3 oranges (weigh the dried fruit and zest the oranges directly onto it, so you don’t lose any fragrant oils)
500g crisp eating apples (about 3), such as russets or braeburns, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm cubes
400g jar good cherries in syrup – use the precious syrup too, don’t discard it, pour it in there with the rest
200g currants
200g raisins
200g sultanas
150g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
120g good cherry jam (we used Bonne Maman Black Cherry Conserve)
125g demerara sugar
125g light muscovado sugar
Juice 2 lemons
2 tbsp ground ginger
½ nutmeg, grated
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground cloves
150ml kirsch

You’ll also need

Sterilised jars with lids

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Method

Tip the bramley apple pieces into a pan with the orange juice and cook gently for 15 minutes until they form a silky purée with a few small pieces left in it. Pour the purée into a bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients except for the booze. Cover and leave everything to macerate for 12 hours – I start it off the day before I want to make the mincemeat.
Heat the oven to 110ºC fan/gas 1. Put the mincemeat on a large baking tray and cook for 2 hours 10 minutes to 2 hours 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. The fruit should look luscious and the mixture slightly loose – it will firm up as it cools. Stir in the kirsch and spoon into warm sterilised jars. Seal and store in dark, cool place until Christmas. Use within 12 months.

Nutrition

75kcals Calories
1.3g (0.1g saturated) Fat
0.9g Protein
13.5g (13.4g sugars) Carbs
0.7g Fibre
0.1g Salt

Quick wins & tips

Debora says: “I prefer a mincemeat without suet because I think the flavour is brighter and vegetarians can eat it too. The method for my mincemeat is inspired by River Cottage’s Pam ‘The Jam’ Corbin, who uses plum purée. I use apple purée and load up the cherries shamelessly. This makes around 1.7kg so you’ll need to sterilise the jars and start the soaking the day before cooking.”