On the First day of Christmas my True Love baked for me…
A blog full of Christmassy treats!
This is a really bad idea, coming up with 24 Christmas cakey treats for December, (with two days notice given that I came up with this idea on 29 November… It took 4 weeks to plan Cupcake a Day May… I may fail in this endeavour. But wait! The secret lies in the song! 12 days of Christmas… that means a blog every second day and only 12 Christmassy treats. That I can probably manage. There are definitely at least 12 things that I love to make and eat during the holiday season!
To kick things off, let’s talk about Christmas Mince.
I can’t think of a better reason to make Christmas Mince tarts than having a half bottle of single malt Scotch that you hate. Of course if you don’t happen to be that lucky, you can always acquire a bottle of single malt scotch, drink half of it and then have half… Whether you hate it is up to you. Of course, if you can’t find it in your heart to slosh Scotch into fruit mince, brandy is a delicious option too. And it’s just occurred to me that bourbon would be WONDERFUL. Next time, I’m going to have to pretend that I hate my half bottle of Makers Mark.
But anyway, I have this half bottle of Glenfiddich that I’m not crazy for. So instead, I added grated apples, a bunch of dried fruit and some almonds to it, and I’m telling you, no booze is made worse by adding fruits and spice. Or is that the other way around?
Christmas Mince lasts in the fridge for a year or more and it just gets better and better, so the good news is, though this recipe makes a bit more than a kilo of it, it won’t go to waste! Plus, if you have it hanging around and make a bunch of pastry (or buy ready rolled!) and have that hanging around too, Christmas Mince Tarts are a doddle to throw together. I’ll tell you about that in a day or so.
The Best Christmas Mince
ingredients
2 green apples, grated
185g currants
185g sultanas
120g mixed peel
50g preserved ginger, chopped finely
50g slivered almonds
110g butter, cubed
175g brown sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
160mL whiskey or brandy
mixing
Combine all the ingredients except for 60mL of the booze.
Spread into a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 120 degrees Celsius for three hours, stirring every hour to get the butter to coat the fruit. When the baking time is done, let the mixture cool a little then stir in the last 60mL of the booze. Store in a nice jar in the fridge. Forever. Until you eat it.
You can use the Christmas Mince immediately but it really gets better with age. Which is why I’m going to cheat to make up my post numbers and tell you how to make Christmas Mince tarts (and another surprise treat) in a few days!
Enjoy!xxx
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