Boozy Mincemeat

I made this Boozy Mincemeat way back in October half term, which is when I usually try to do a good bit of the Christmas cooking. This definitely has to be one of the most enjoyable cooking moments of the year for starters it was one of the first times I fully enjoyed our new kitchen, after putting in a lot of hard work getting it exactly how we wanted it. Also, after having made this and Vimto Jam for Christmas pressies as well as a Christmas Cake all in the same week, I started to  feel really festive even though it was only October and as a result really started looking forward to our first Christmas in our new home.

This Boozy Mincemeat was safely stored away in the cupboard above our pantry until yesterday when I got it out to decorate with Christmas fabric ready to be give to nearest and dearest.

I hope people will enjoy using our Boozy Mincemeat for all their mince pie needs during the festive season - I have to say it was very lovely and filled the kitchen with Christmasy smells when we made it. Bailey and I both enjoyed taking in the aromas of the freshly cooked mincemeat and I enjoyed eating the little bowl of the stuff that was leftover after I'd jarred it all up!

Unfortunately I can't take credit for the recipe, it was given to me by a very talented lady at school who is the master of making Christmas cakes and the like. I did add a few extra glugs of sherry for good measure though!

Recipe:
2 Bramley apples
110g veggie friendly suet
500g mixed dried fruit
175g soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 orange
100ml sherry

Core then chop the apples into little cubes and add to a large oven dish.

Add the suet, dried fruit and spices to the dish also. Grate the zest of the orange into the dish, before juicing said orange and adding the juice to the bowl along with the other ingredients. Stir thoroughly.

Cover the dish with some clingfilm and leave overnight in a cool dark place, somewhere like my wee pantry is perfect.

The next day, remove the cling film, give it another stir and place the dish in the oven at the super low temperature of gas mark 1/2 or 130 degrees C for 2 hours. Leading up to the 2 hours mark, the kitchen will smell like lovely Christmas itself.

Take the mincemeat out of the oven and pour the sherry in, giving it a really good stir. Then transfer to sterilised jars - this made about 3 jars worth for me. Place little disks of greaseproof paper on top of the mincemeat before closing the jars and storing somewhere cool and dry.

Use the mincemeat to make lovely mince pies or some other exciting desserts! We hope the recipients of our mincemeat will love it and eat it all up and feel dead Christmasy!