Fruit Mince

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the fruit mincemeat recipe in the points below:

• Super quick and super easy: you know that I like you give you recipes that don't take hours and hours to prepare. This fruit mince recipe is no exception 😄👍. It is a quick, easy recipe that needs only basic steps to create. You can whip it up on Christmas eve and have it ready for the next day.
• Taste and texture: from the sweet sticky texture to the chewy robust dried fruits, we experience a wide range of tastes and sensations within the recipe.
• Homemade: making your own mincemeat means you know exactly what has gone into the recipe and how it has been cooked! Just like the Chilli Tomato Jam this homemade fruit mince blows the lid off jarred fruit mince any day of the 12 days of Christmas 😂.
• Holiday season baking: Christmas day is that one occasion where we tend to eat more than our bellies can fit! Making your own fruit mince adds to the special time of year that is the holidays season where we can get our own homemade mincemeat on and share it with loved ones.
• Versatile: one of the best things about this fruit mince is that it gives you such a wide range of ways in which to use it! You can add it to Christmas fruit mince pies, tarts, cakes, muffins, biscuits and more!

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make this go-to recipe for homemade fruit mince. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Marmalade: some people call it marmalade and some call it marmalade jam or orange marmalade. Sweet and luscious in flavor, it is a great ingredient to bake with. For this recipe the marmalade jam to bring a sweet touch to the flavor profile of the fruit mince.
• Rum: helps to give a depth of richness to the recipe.
• Dried apricots: these add additional softness and texture to the dried fruit as well as bringing another flavor.
• Glace cherries: you will find these in the aisle with the dried fruits and nuts. They are not commonly used year round so look for them all the way up on the top or the bottom of the shelf.
• Mixed fruit: this is sold as a combination at your local grocery store. It is a combination of mixed dried fruit and is a budget friendly way of purchasing it.

Top tip: You will be able to get all of the ingredients needed to make the recipe from your local supermarket and or bottle shop.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by preparing the fruit. You will need a food processor for the initial step.

• Add the dried apricots and glace cherries to the food processor (Photo 1)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Fruit Mince

To make the fruit mince, we start by adding the dried apricots and glace cherries to the food processor. Then we blitz these to chop them up into small pieces.

Once done we want to then add the ingredients to make the fruit mincemeat to a large sauce pan.

Start with the dried mixed fruit like you see in the photo below.

• Add the dried fruit to a sauce pan (Photo 2)

Next add the fruit that we blitzed in the food processor like you see in the photo below.

• Add the blitzed fruit (Photo 3)

Now continue to add each of the remaining ingredients to the saucepan.

• Pour in the rum (Photo 4)

Next add the rum to the sauce pan like you see in the photo above.

• Add the marmalade (Photo 5)

Then finally we then add the marmalade jam like you see above.

After doing this we turn the heat on the stove top to low (gentle simmer) and simply stir as the rum gets absorbed into the fruits and the marmalade melts and mixes in too.

The texture of the mixture will thicken as the rum and marmalade gets into the fruit and you will also notice a delightful aroma as the steam wafts your way.

Once the fruit mince is cooked and ready it will look like the photo below. There won't be any additional separate juices in the pan and the consistency is sticky and a bit shiny looking.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

When it comes to serving your fruit mince, you have a wide range of options available to you!

Using it to make fruit mince tarts or fruit mince pies like you see in the photo below is a popular and festive appropriate option!

Or simply spoon a scoop of ice cream into a bowl and sprinkle some of the fruit mince over the top!

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Let the fruit mince cool and then transfer it into a sealed, air-tight container. It can be kept like this for up to a month. Or you can use sterilised jars and portion it into these as a means of keeping it fresh.

In warmer climates with high humidity (like Australia) it is best kept in the fridge. If choosing to do so, this also extends the shelf like where it can be refrigerated for up to 12 months.

How to Freeze

Follow the steps above to transfer the cooked fruit mince into a sealed airtight container or sterilized jars if choosing to use. Then place the container into the freezer where the fruit mince can be frozen for up to 6 months.

How to Reheat

Remove frozen fruit mince from the freezer and let it fully thaw. Once it has, add it to recipes like fruit mince pies or tarts and bake it in the oven.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can use dried pears as a substitute for the dried apricots or glace cherries if you wish too.
• Or if you wish to in place of the mixed dried fruit you can make your own combination. Some recommendations are sultanas, raisins, currants and citrus peel such as orange or lemon.
• You can also use orange zest as addition to the flavor profile of the fruit mix simply by using a micro plane zester an zesting an orange over the fruit mince before you turn the heat on.
• As an alternative to the rum you can use brandy if you prefer (equivalent amount).
• Or for a non alcoholic liquid you can use orange juice. However due to the preserving effect of alcohol the fruit mince won't stay fresh for as long. This is fine if you want to use it straight away though.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• When you are blitzing the apricots and glace cherries together we want to end up with a consistent texture of the fruit mixture. If after the 1st 5-10 seconds there are still bigger pieces present, give it another quick blitz.
• Adding the rum and the marmalade to the fruit mince does a couple of things. One is that it rehydrates the pre dried fruit. Another is that it adds additional flavor and texture to the fruit. If choosing to make fruit mince pies or tarts, I don't recommend simply using 'mixed dried fruit' as it is dry without the sticky sweet component.
• We use low heat as a means to ensuring that we don't burn the fruit mince.
• We don't use much liquid in the recipe but all of it does get absorbed into the fruit as it cooks.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

😍 More Easy Christmas Recipes

If your favorite way to spend some time is by doing some festive cooking then I have some more ideas that you might like to try. Get your bake or no bake on with these recipes:

• Bourbon Glazed Ham
• Skin on Roast Potatoes
• Rum And Raisin Fudge
• Creamy Garlic Potatoes
• Potato And Sweet Potato Bake
• Caramelised Onion Sausage Rolls
• Baked Brie With Red Pepper Jelly
• Potato And Ham Bake
• Slow Cooker Scalloped Potatoes And Ham
• Tim Tam Slice

It is time to get our fruit mince on my friend! You can also find all of my Christmas recipes or desserts in the one spot.

Adrianne

PIN and save this recipe for later! 

Hunger still got you? You can SUBSCRIBE to receive the latest recipes, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.