
Ingredients
- 8 ounces currants – minced (chopped quite fine)
- 8 ounces raisins – minced
- 8 ounces sultanas or golden raisins – minced
- 12 ounces shredded granny smith apples
- 8 ounces shredded beef suet
- 2-4 ounces mixed peel minced
- 1 cup brown sugar
- juice of one lemon or one orange
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1tsp vanilla or homemade bitters
- 2-4 ounces brandy
Directions
- The amount of apple in this recipe is not a typo. In fact, sometimes, I add more because this is close to what I grew up eating. I have added a scan of a typical recipe from the 17th century, and you can see that it calls for far more apple than most modern recipes. You will also note that I leave out the tongue because my family isn’t having it.
- Secondly, this is mincemeat. I grate the apples when I grate the suet and I give the apples, suet, and dried fruit a whirl in the food processor before I put in on the heat. You may chop yours as much (or as little) as you like, but if you have never made this before I suggest mincing things not just chopping them.
- After chopping, put all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat them over medium heat until the suet melts and the mixture takes on a glossy sheen. As an aside, all the spices are optional. I like a good deal of spice in mine.
- Let the mixture cool completely and then add the brandy.
- Put this in a container with an airtight lid and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least a week. The longer it sits the more the flavor matures. In my family we still observed the whole stir-up Sunday tradition and so we start it then. (Yes, I swear I am American. )

This is really, really close to the recipe my grandmother used for making mincemeat except of course she used cow tongue.
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