Homemade Fruit Mince
I think I have developed the best homemade fruit mince recipe. And it’s very much a 21st century version of mincemeat as it's a fully vegetarian and vegan fruit mince recipe. This recipe has been evolving in my kitchen for nearly a quarter of a century. It has converted hundreds of fruit mince tart haters into my army of fruit mince tart ambassadors. You may have to twist some arms initially, but word will spread fast!
Equipment
- Food processor (optional)
- 4-5 litre sealed plastic container
- Serrated paring knife (optional)
- Microplane or citrus zester
- Juicer
- Medium size grater
Ingredients
- 200 g pitted prunes
- 200 g dried pitted dates
- 300 g sultanas
- 300 g raisins
- 300 g currants
- 350 g whole raw almonds
- 4 medium granny smith apples (450g)
- 100 g coconut oil or butter
- 2 Navel oranges (zest and juice)
- 2 Lemons (zest and juice)
- 2 teaspoons table salt
- 180 g golden syrup
- 250 g dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground or fresh grated nutmeg
- 700 ml brandy
Instructions
- Assemble ingredients.
- Make sure the 4-5 litre plastic storage container with sealable lid is super clean and dry.
- To enable easier chopping place prunes and dates in freezer until semi-frozen.
- With the exception of the citrus juice, coconut oil/butter, and brandy, add ingredients to storage container as you go.
- Zest and juice lemons and oranges, set aside juices. Add zest to storage container.
- Roughly chop almonds by hand or, if using a food processor, process in batches.
- Chop semi-frozen prunes and dates with a small serrated knife, aiming for a maximum of one-centimetre cubes.
- Grate apples without peeling them by hand on a medium sized grater. Sprinkle grated apple with lemon juice as you go to prevent browning.
- Add all ingredients except juices, coconut oil/butter, and brandy to the plastic box and stir well.
- Melt oil/butter and add to storage container, stirring well.
- Pour approximately 200ml of combined orange and lemon juice over the fruit mix and stir well. The rest of the juice can be used for other purposes.
- Sprinkle about 200ml of brandy over the mixture and stir well.
- Store the sealed container in the fridge for 1 - 2 weeks. Each day sprinkle with more brandy and stir in with a large clean spoon.
- Stop adding brandy when the fruit is no longer absorbing the liquid you have added.
- The fruit mince is ready to use.
Just before you cook with abandon…
Make it vegan: While I have traditionally used melted butter in my recipe, I have changed it to a fully vegan and vegetarian fruit mince recipe by swapping in melted coconut oil. Melted butter is also fine.
Raisins versus sultanas: Coming from Canada I wasn't familiar with the concept of a sultana. They looked like a raisin to me. If you are just as confused, let me clear this up. ‘Raisin’ is a generic term and can refer to any number of grape varieties that produce a dark, essentially black dried fruit. The size of a raisin will vary according to the variety used and generally they are seedless. The sultana is a lighter coloured grape and is made from the sultana grape variety. In Australia we simply call them sultana’s, while in North America they are golden raisins.
Freezer friendly: This homemade fruit mince recipe is freezer friendly. The full recipe makes about 3 kgs of fruit mince. It sounds like a lot but you will be surprised how quickly that goes if you’re planning a few pies and lots of fruit mince tarts. To get an idea, I make 18 generously deep individual tarts in the bottom of a Texas muffin tin pan and they take about 1kg of filling. I’ve used my frozen fruit mince literally up to the next year’s holiday season. It will be ready in the freezer for some effortless Christmas in July bakes.
Alcohol free fruit mince: Yes, it is OK to make alcohol free fruit mince though I feel it’s not really Christmas fruit mince without the brandy or rum. Both the alcohol and the lemon and orange juices plump up the dried fruit as the mixture matures in the fridge. So you can choose to go with just orange and lemon juice if you like. This will also use up any leftover squeezed juice from the recipe. If you choose not to use alcohol, I recommend freezing your leftover fruit mince after the Christmas period.