littletree bakes...super special mincemeat

So it's day three of my special week of posts and today I have a recipe for one of the most important parts of a traditional Christmas here in the uk...mincemeat for your mince pies! Now I am not the greatest lover of raisins and currents etc but I will eat mince pies, my mum and sister on the other hand cannot stand them! So this year I thought I would make a very special homemade version without the bit's they hate...aren't I nice? So if you or someone you know is also a raisin hater then this would be a lovely treat for them this Christmas...


Ingredients

• 2.5oz Dried Dates
• 2.5oz Dried Cranberries
• 2oz Dried Apricots
• 1oz Dried Apple 
• 1 Orange Zest & Juice
• 1.5oz Brown Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Mixed Spice
• 1 Fresh Apple

(You can use any mixture of dried fruit for this recipe as long as it totals 8oz)

Let's Bake!

• Chop all of your dried fruit as finely as you like, I like mine fine-ish but chunky is good too! 
• Put all the fruit, sugar and spice into a large saucpan.
• Zest and juice the orange into the pan too. Add an extra splash of suitable fresh juice (orange/apple) so the juice covers the bottom the pan and some of the fruit.
• Heat the mixture until steaming (not boiling) and give it a good stir to combine all the flavours.
• Turn the heat off and leave to stand. Stir occasionally until the fruit has soaked up all the juice.
• Pop into a sterilized jar and store until needed. 

Making Mince Pies!

• When you are ready to make your mince pies just scoop out the mix into a large bowl and add in one grated Fresh Apple, it adds a nice fresh zing to the mincemeat.
• If you are making your own pastry for the mince pies a little tip I learnt from my mum is to add a little orange zest into the pastry, it makes it taste soooo good!

Tomorrow I have a super easy paper heart garland for you to make! See you soon x

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