food hits and misses

Fruit mince tarts are another one of those things I really love about Christmas. Like the cake and pudding, the fruit mince should be made well in advance to give all of the flavours time to develop. But despite not working outside the house, I seem to have run out of time this year, and have made my fruit mince extremely late. That said, cooking the fruit does help to speed things up somewhat, so you end up with a tasty pie nonetheless. The added benefit is the mix will keep a very long time if refrigerated, so you can always store any leftovers for Christmas in July.


The fruit you use really depends on what you like to eat and what you have in the house. Most of the measurements are sort of guesses - I tend to use handfuls - but as long as you have a good amount of fruit compared to liquid you should be fine.

Fruit mince

1 cup apple juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup brown sugar
4 apples, peeled and diced
1 cup sultanas
1 cup raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup mixed peel
12 dates
15 dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup walnuts
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn ground cloves
1/4 tspn ground ginger
1/2 tspn nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brandy

Method

Combine the juice and sugar in a large saucepan. Dissolve the sugar over low heat. Meanwhile, chop the apricots, dates and walnuts to match the pieces of apple. Add the fruit and nuts to the juice mix and bring to a simmer. Add the butter and stir through. Allow to simmer, covered for around 40 minutes or until the fruit is pulpy. Remove from heat and add brandy. Store in sterilised jars.