This vegan mincemeat with cherries is very easy to make and it’s overflowing with festive fruits, spices and alcohol. Use this homemade mincemeat in all your Christmas bakes and gift a few jars to friends.
Why Make this Recipe
If you’ve gone to the effort of making your own mince pies, then making your own mincemeat is quite a sensible plan. This way those pies are 100% created by you.
Besides, I’ve often found shop-bought mincemeat to be a little on the tart side. In contrast, this vegan mincemeat is not sharp. But it is loaded with festive spices and a bounty of mixed dried fruits all tied together with a generous glug of alcohol.
The recipe is very easy and produces plenty. Around 2kg to be precise. That’s enough for 5-6 full-sized (340g) jars.
And of course, the beauty of homemade is that you can take away any flavours that you are not so keen on and replace with something else.
Ingredients
I have two star ingredients in my homemade mincemeat – dried cherries and currants.
Dried cherries may not be a classic ingredient, but they do add a luxurious and zesty touch to the overall flavour.
Currants are a traditional ingredient in mincemeat. I’ll be honest, I’ve shied away from using them at all for quite some time because I thought them dry and somewhat bitter.
But when I went shopping for ingredients for this vegan mincemeat recipe, I spotted some juicy and soft Vostissa currants in my local M & S, so I decided to try them out.
I’m so glad I did, they add that extra flavour dimension that my homemade mincemeat of last year lacked (I had a bit left, so I tasted them side by side).
This discovery leads me to impart some crucial advice: buy the best dried fruit that you can find – the varieties that look plump and juicy and have a soft feel about them. Your mince pies will thank you for it.
Similarly, use whole candied peel if possible and chop it finely. Again, the quality advantage this provides is worth the extra effort.
As for the alcohol, it’s fine to omit the cherry brandy and replace with an equal quantity of brandy or perhaps Grand Marnier if you would like to enhance the orange flavour.
Step by Step Instructions
Despite the long list of ingredients, homemade vegan mincemeat, is very simple to put together:
Step 1: Weigh out the dried fruits then chop the cherries and candied peel into smaller pieces (about the size of currants). Zest & juice the oranges & lemon. Measure out the spices, sugar and suet. Finally, peel and coarsely grate the apple
Step 2: Put everything, except the alcohol into a large oven-proof bowl
Step 3: Use your hands to mix all ingredients together
Step 4: Cover the bowl loosely with foil and leave for at least 12 hours for the fruit to soak up the juice and flavours. When ready to cook, give everything a quick stir again then re-cover with the foil and bake for 3 hours
Step 5: Remove from the oven and give the mincemeat a regular stir as it cools to prevent lumps of suet fat forming (every 30 minutes to begin with, more frequently as it is nears cold)
Step 6: When the mincemeat is cold stir through the alcohol and spoon into sterilised jars, pushing down firmly to remove any pockets of air. Seal, label and store for up to 1 year
Tips and FAQs
Expert Tips
This homemade vegan mincemeat is incredibly easy. Time and the oven do most of the work, but here are a few tips to help you achieve some splendid mincemeat:
- pick quality dried fruits. Soft, plump and juicy fruits make the tastiest mincemeat, so don’t be tempted to throw in old ingredients just because they need using up
- prepare everything else before grating the apple since it oxidises with the air and browns incredibly quickly (as is evident in my step by step image above)
- don’t rush the soaking time. Prepare the fruits in the evening and leave overnight to soak up the fruit juice and spice flavours before cookings. It’s the best way to pump that dried fruit full of festive flavours
- Once cooked, stir the mincemeat every 30 minutes until warm rather than hot, then every 10 minutes until completely cold. This helps keep the fat on the fruit, rather than clotting in puddles in the bowl
- Similarly, do not put the freshly cooked mincemeat in the fridge to speed up the cooling process – this is a surefire way to end up with lumps of fat rather than evenly distributed fat
- If storing for any length of time use sterilised jars
Frequently Asked Questions
That is down to the fat content in the mincemeat. When the melted suet cools, it coats the ingredients in a thin layer of fat. But don’t worry, the cloudiness disappears once it is cooked into mince pies (the suet bakes itself into the pastry).
I’ve heard a few people tell me that they do not like suet, especially vegetable suet. I don’t have a problem with it, but if you do, then it is ok to leave the suet out (or reduce the quantity).
The resulting mincemeat will have a slightly different consistency and texture, but it can’t fail to taste good with the quality ingredients involved. I would also recommend eating within 3 months (or freeze it).
Since this vegan mincemeat contains both suet and fresh apple, it does need to be cooked.
Cooking breaks down the sugar and suet, allowing them to coat the fruit as they dissolve & melt. It also helps to preserve the ingredients.
Cooking is also essential to prevent the apple from fermenting. It also transforms the texture of the apple, breaking it down slightly, which, when mixed with the sugar and suet, creates a sauce that binds itself around the dried fruits.
Ideally yes, if you can make it several weeks in advance of using, then the flavours of this homemade mincemeat will be boosted further.
However, it’s also fine to use it as soon as it is made.
Ways to use Mincemeat
There are so many ways homemade mincemeat can be used. Here are a handful of suggestions (please note that not all of these tempting recipes are vegan):
- Mince pies – obviously
- Mincemeat frangipane tart
- Mincemeat Plait (vegan)
- Individual Baked Alaskas with Panettone & Mincemeat
- Madeleines – for a touch of elegance
- Mincemeat muffins (vegan)
- Gift it – find a pretty jar and give to a friend
Have you made my vegan mincemeat? Let me know what you thought of it in the comments below and don’t forget to show me what you made with it on Instagram – use #littlesugarsnaps and tag me @jane_littlesugarsnaps.
Vegan Mincemeat – A Homemade Mincemeat with Cherries
Ingredients
- 350 g Raisins
- 250 g Sultanas
- 150 g Currants
- 175 g Mixed candied peel
- 100 g Dried cherries
- 150 g Suet vegan – I used Atora
- 350 g Dark brown sugar
- 400 g Cooking apples
- 1 Orange zest & juice
- 1 Orange juice only
- 1 Lemon zest & juice
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp Ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp Ground ginger
- ¼ Ground cloves
- ¼ Ground allspice
- 4 tbsp Brandy
- 2 tbsp Cherry brandy
Instructions
- Begin by weighing out the dried fruits and chopping the cherries and candied peel into pieces similar in size to the currants
- Zest one orange & the lemon then extract the juice from both oranges and the lemon
- Measure out the spices, sugar and the suet
- Peel & core the apple, then coarsely grate it
- Put everything, except the alcohol into a large oven-proof bowl and mix the ingredients together using your hands (far easier than using a spoon due to the quantity of ingredients involved)
- Cover the bowl loosely with foil and leave for at least 12 hours (and up to 24 hours) for the fruit to soak up the juice and flavours. When ready to cook, give everything a quick stir again then re-cover with the foil and bake for 3 hours at 110C/ 225F/ GM ¼
- Remove from the oven and give the mincemeat a good stir. Let it go cold at room temperature (don't put it in the fridge) stirring at regular intervals. This will prevent lumps of suet fat forming. Stir every 30 minutes to begin with and then every 10 minutes as it approaches being cold. Once cold the mincemeat may look cloudy. This is normal and, once baked into pies, this cloudiness disappears
- When the mincemeat is cold stir through the alcohol and spoon into sterilised jars, pushing down firmly to remove any pockets of air. Seal, label and store for up to 1 year
Notes
Expert Tips
- pick quality dried fruits. Soft, plump and juicy fruits make the tastiest mincemeat, so don’t be tempted to throw in old ingredients just because they need using up
- prepare everything else before grating the apple since it oxidises with the air and browns incredibly quickly
- don’t rush the soaking time. Prepare the fruits in the evening and leave overnight to soak up the fruit juice and spice flavours before cookings. It’s the best way to pump that dried fruit full of festive flavours
- Once cooked, stir the mincemeat every 30 minutes until warm rather than hot, then every 10 minutes until completely cold. This helps keep the fat on the fruit, rather than clotting in puddles in the bowl
- Similarly, do not put the freshly cooked mincemeat in the fridge to speed up the cooling process – this is a surefire way to end up with lumps of fat rather than evenly distributed fat
- If storing for any length of time use sterilised jars
- This vegan mincemeat must be cooked to allow the sugar and suet to creat a sauce that wraps itself around the fruit and helps preserve everything. Cooking is also vital to stop the apple from fermenting
Would you make me a batch to sell to me please? How much would it cost ,
ah, I wish I could oblige, but I’m not set up (validation, certificates of permission for necessary authorities) to sell anything I make at home. However, this recipe is very easy to do. The majority of the time involved is the fruit soaking in the juice, so it’s not as daunting as it might appear.
What a tasty recipe and perfect for the holidays! Such a great idea for gift giving!
I’ve actually never made mince meat, but I am so excited to try it with this vegan recipe!
Can’t wait to use this in my Christmas baking!
This looks perfect for some homemade gifts. Looking forward to trying this version out!
Thanks so much for this – I usually reluctantly use store bought mincemeat but this looks so much more tastier! Can’t wait to try this!