Week 43: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas prep has officially started in our house! I used to make most of my Christmas gifts, nowadays I'll settle for making a few. But with a toddler in tow, a baby on the go, work and a precarious house situation, I still have to start the prep early to ensure stuff actually gets done. On top of that, Christmas baking is usually best done in advance so it all takes a bit of planning.

I'm a firm believer in nothing beats homemade but I accept that sometimes, time constraints or cost of raw materials can be a bit of a dampener. That's not the case for mincemeat though, it is so easy to make and the ingredients are so readily available, it is totally worth making your own!

I use a trusted recipe by Delia Smith, can't beat Delia for the classics, right?

Ingredients:
- 450g ( or roughly 2)  Bramley apples, cored and chopped small (no need to peel)
- 225g of shredded suet
- 350g raisins
- 225g sultanas
- 225g currants
- 225g mixed candied peel
- 350g dark brown sugar
- grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
- grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 50g sliced almonds
- 4 tsp mixed ground spice
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 6 tbsp brandy

If only you could smell through the screen, this smells a lot like Christmas already!

Method:
- Mix all the ingredients, except the brandy, in a large bowl. Cover and leave to rest overnight.
- In the morning, pre-heat the oven at 110ºC, cover the bowl with foil and put in the over for 3 hours. It sounds like an awful long time but you do not need to stir the mixture while it's in the oven, just leave it in there and forget about it for the whole duration.
- After 3 hours, get the bowl out of the oven and give the mix a good stir. It will look like it is swimming in fat, that's ok, that's how it's meant to look like.

- Leave the mixture to cool on your kitchen countertop, stirring once in a while.
- When the fat starts to coagulate, add the brandy and give it all a good mix again.
- Pack in sterilised jars and that's it, you're done!

A few personal observations:
- I find it's best to make this mincemeat a few weeks in advance so the flavours get a chance to develop.
- Don't worry about the quantity it makes, if you store it in a cool dark place, it keeps for years!
- As you use the apples with peel still on and use the zest of the lemons/oranges, I would recommend using organic produce.
- For the suet, I use the veggie version as I have many veggie friends and I wouldn't want to deprive them but I have used the beef suet in the past and I can honestly say, both work equally well.
- You could change some of the ingredients to suit your liking. I reckon replacing the currants/sultanas with some cranberries would be pretty fab.

Enjoy!