Homemade mincemeat

I'm making mincemeat - I know, I left it really late! Fortunately my method of warming through the fruit helps it along. Best made a month or so in advance, but even if not, it's still way better than the sickly sweet stuff you buy in jars.

The smell of citrus, dried fruit and spices really gets me in the festive mood. I like mine citrusy and not too sweet. Candying your own peel seems a pain but it's really pretty quick. Lemons are great but grapefruit adds a sharpness and a floral note. I use butter instead of suet - you can get vegetable suet but it's just palm oil, butter tastes much better. I like using rum instead of the traditional brandy, in practice it doesn't make much difference.

• 150g currants
• 150g sultanas
• 150g raisins
• 2 oranges
• 1 grapefruit
• 1 cooking apple, peeled and grated
• 190g soft brown sugar
• 1 nutmeg
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 100g butter, chopped
• 100ml spiced rum (or brandy)

1. Peel the citrus fruit and chop the peel.
2. Squeeze the remaining flesh to make juice.
3. In a small saucepan heat 100g (roughly half) of the sugar with the juice of a grapefruit.
4. Put the chopped peel in the hot syrup - add a splash of water if it doesn't quite cover the peel. 
5. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the peel is translucent and tender.
6. In a larger pan, add all the remaining ingredients, excluding the alcohol. Pour over the candied peel mixture and stir.
7. Warm on a gentle heat for about ten minutes so the butter and sugar melt. There's no need for it to boil, just a gentle heat so the fruit plumps up.
8. Leave to cool, then stir in the alcohol.
9. Put in a small covered bowl or container and leave for 2 days before bottling in sterilised jars.

Mincemeat is great in mince pies but you can also use it in flapjacks, baked apples, pastries, any other number of recipes. Before using it, loosening up the mixture with some fresh lemon juice gives it an extra fresh kick.

Variations

Many people add chopped almonds or cranberries to mincemeat - try it if you like but I consider these nasty surprises when encountered in a mince pie!

I prefer using spiced rum but the traditional brandy is fine, or sherry. For an alcohol-free alternative, add the juice of an orange at the end.