Easy Mincemeat Traybake Crumble Slices Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make shop bought mincemeat taste better? ›

Start by tasting it, then add extra flavours that suit: nearly always add a little freshly grated lemon or orange zest, extra spice, extra brandy or rum and some cherries or nuts.

Heat a pile of mincemeat in a pan with sugar, orange and lemon juice, orange peel, half a cinnamon stick and brandy, wait for it to thicken and then stir in some whipping cream.

Vine fruits and apple provide much of the body. Candied fruit is important too—usually lemon and orange peel, but sometimes cherries. Ginger and prunes are welcome additions, too. The essential trinity of spices is cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, but the ingredient list may just say "spices," which isn't very helpful.

Traditions, folklore and superstitions

Stirring the mincemeat was quite an event, and English tradition dictates that it should only be stirred clockwise. Stirring the mincemeat anti-clockwise would lead to bad luck and poor fortune in the coming 12 months.

For every two cups of "store-bought" mincemeat, as my mom calls it, add the following: 1/2 c. shredded, peeled apple; 1 tsp. or more mixed spices (especially cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander); 2 tbsp. each diced citron, diced candied orange peel and diced candied lemon peel (or you can cheat and use 6 tbsp.

Versions containing animal fats should be cooked before use but those including butter can be used as they are, perhaps stirred into an ice cream mixture.

Consider the fat content of mince before you buy. Beef mince, and sometimes lamb, is graded by its fat content, and remember that some fat is desirable as it adds flavour and helps to keep the meat moist during cooking. The standard fat content of mince is 20%, but you can opt for a lean or extra-lean version.

Mincemeat over time does deepen in colour but the bitter taste may be that you pressed too hard when the citrus zests were grated!

Ingredients: Water, Corn Syrup, Raisins, Dried Apples, Molasses, Corn Starch Modified, Distilled Vinegar, Dried Orange And Lemon Peel, Salt, Spices, Beef, Fruit Pectin, Natural Flavor.

If you can't find suet then we have found that grated vegetable shortening (such as Trex, Crisco or Copha) is a good substitute.

Can you store mincemeat in Tupperware? ›

Mincemeat genuinely is surprisingly quick and straightforward to make and makes a delightful homemade christmas present. Store in the fridge in tupperware or in sealed sterilised jars for a gift.

It has been claimed that eating the snack is illegal in England if done so on Christmas Day. The tradition comes from the time of Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s, when mince pies were banned at Christmas, along with other tasty treats. Cromwell wanted to tackle gluttony in England.

English tradition demands that the mince meat mixture should only be stirred in a clockwise direction. To stir it anticlockwise is to bring bad luck for the coming year. Another English custom is for all the family to take a turn in stirring the mincemeat mixture whilst making a wish.

When making the mincemeat mixture for the pies, for good luck it should be stirred in a clockwise direction. You should always make a wish when eating the first mince pie of the season and you should never cut one with a knife.