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5 from 6 votes

Vegan Mincemeat - A Homemade Mincemeat with Cherries

This vegan mincemeat 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.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time3 hours
Total Time3 hours 30 minutes
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: British
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 6 Jars (340g)
Calories: 1053kcal

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 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon Ground ginger
  • ¼ Ground cloves
  • ¼ Ground allspice
  • 4 tablespoon Brandy
  • 2 tablespoon 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

  • 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 cooking. 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 create a sauce that wraps itself around the fruit and helps preserve everything. Cooking is also vital to stop the apple from fermenting
Note: Nutritional values are approximate calculations per jar. There are approximately 10 servings in each 340g jar of mincemeat.

Nutrition

Calories: 1053kcal | Carbohydrates: 209g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 74mg | Potassium: 1284mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 143g | Vitamin A: 744IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 4mg