Her words, not ours, but it does taste great.
This is another classic recipe from the queen of cookbooks, Eliza Acton, which we saw being prepared at the Christmas Pudding workshop in the restored kitchen at Hove’s Regency Town House.
The boiled lemons give it a more citrusy tang than modern recipes but means it can be used in many different ways, not just as the filling for festive mince pies.
The quantities below will make two small jars – but double up (or more) for batch making.
With thanks to Paul Couchman for the history and the recipe.
Superlative Mincemeat
A festive filling for pies and tarts – recipe dating from the mid 1800s
Ingredients
- A large lemon
- 80 g apples peeled cored and chopped small
- 20 g raisins
- 20 g currants
- 20 g candied orange-rind or other citrus fruit
- 80 g suet animal or vegetable
- 80 g brown sugar
- 50 ml brandy
Instructions
- Boil the lemon til tender, set aside to cool before removing the pips and chopping it into small pieces
- Combine the other ingredients and soak in the brandy.
- Add the lemons, stir well
- Cook over a hotplate until the suet has all dissolved
- Spoon into sterilised jars and seal
Other recipes you may like:
• Sorbet of raspberries
• Swiss Toffee
• Eliza Acton’s Plum Pudding