What shall we do with the drunken apples?
african vanielje on Oct 18 2007 at 1:18 pm | Filed under: SHF, christmas, vegan, vegetarian
Apple season is in full swing and the apples seem to be dropping faster than we can collect, juice, bake, pie or otherwise transmogrify them into the ultimate autumn comfort foods. The wide variety of trees in the orchard offer up a lottery of ‘cookers’ and ‘eaters’. Some of them are eaters (deliciously sweet and crunchy inside) disguised as cookers (tough brown skins on the outside) which come back untouched when sent in my daughter’s packed lunch. So ever loath to waste perfectly good food, and still in full pickling, canning bottling mode, I have got a bit of a head start on my Christmas production line.
Mid October may seem early, and I’m the first to admit that the tinsel appearing in shops in September makes me cringe, but bear in mind that certain Christmas delicacies need time to reach their peak. This Christmas mince pie mix being one of them. And it won’t be long before I am making Christmas cakes as well, tucking them away in a dark, quiet corner, feeding them occasionally, only bringing them out in the final days before Christmas to dress them and show them off in their party finery and all their boozy glory.
Now what, I hear you muttering in the back row, does that have to do with windfall apples? Well, everything actually, because this is a suet free mince pie mix which relies on the apples to give it extra moistness and to add a certain softness. You can see from the picture that there is a rather high proportion of apples to dried currants etc. which gives the mix lovely balance once cooked. And by cooked, I mean in the mince pie itself as this mix does not need to be cooked before bottling. The mincemeat is also completely vegan / vegetarian for those of you who don’t like the idea of suet. I know that you can get vegetable suet as a substitute, but really I’m not sure I see the point of adding fat, particularly when I usually use a rich shortcrust for the pastry, and serve my mince pies with mascarpone, or double thick cream.
I spend a happy hour chopping and mixing, adding spices, zest and of course loads of booze. Come to think of it, the whole process uses enough apples and enough Amaretto to qualify as my entry for SHF #36. The Drunken Apples theme is Andrew’s call (of Spitoon Extra) and I’m actually quite looking forward to the roundup. Apples are always transformed from girl-next-door to belle-of-the-ball by just a touch of sugar and alcohol.
The heady scents co-mingling in the kitchen are enough to make me quite nostalgic for December evenings spent in the kitchen with my mom, baking, mixing, chatting. Hopefully Dakota will be sharing some of the Christmas baking with me this year. In the meantime I’m basking in the glow of my rows of bottled Christmas mincemeat, much the same way as I will be basking in the glow of the actual mince pies come December.
Never apologise for loving the mystery and pageantry of Christmas - I think it’s only the truly cynical who can’t look past the tacky tinsel to the glorious glow behind the wings. Perhaps this is why horses need those comforting blinkers to complete the race..Mmm! those rows and rows of mixture look positively drooly, I’m not sure they should ALL wait till mince pie days.
I also make our mincemeat with apples grated in instead of suet and it is sooo much nicer than the shop stuff. Yours looks delectable! I usually wait till nearer Christmas cos with outside temperatures rising it has to stay in the fridge and it takes up too much room. I make the fruit mince and my sister in law makes the best pastry so she turns it into mince pies. We also do an extra Christmas in July here, to enjoy them properly, all cuddled up by the fire, so we get two goes at mince pies in a year!
Anon, hurray! Another christmas lover. I admit it is my favourite timeof the year. Christmas has all my favourite things in abundance, food, family, an excuse to bake and decorate, and at it’s core, a celebration of the truly good in all of us. What’s not to like. And I’m pretty sure I will have to do a few test runs before December
Kit, you’re right, In South Africa I always made it much closer to Christmas but here in the cold I don’t need to keep it in the fridge. I never have the radiator in the kitchen on and the window is always open for the cat so it’s only when I’m in there cooking that it heats up, and generally not to an unbearable level so my precious mincemeat is safe. I store it in the fridge once opened but to be honest I usually use a bottle at a sitting. I mostly make deep dish pies and do four trays at a time, which does the job. I also often add a little fresh zest just before baking, or add some fresh zest to the pastry. I love that you and your sister in law tag team the mince pies. I bet you can’t have too many with kids in the house.
Alack and alas: traditionally we don’t make as much of Christmas as you do, in our Calvinistic country. But we do like to decorate the house inside as well as outside. And of course, those who cook will do so. Your mincemeat looks so wonderful, it chases me to the kitchen to try my hand.
Oh, Inge, those rows of your wonderful homemade mincemeat, waiting to star in Christmas pies are just a delightful hint of things to come. And that anticipation is really a part of what makes holiday rituals so magical and joyful. Its the comfort of things done, on schedule, things done with and shared by family…I bet your little girl will be ready to don her aprom and spend wintery afternoons baking with Mom this Christmas.
Lizet, christmas is my favourite time of year because it means family time to me. I will always love it and we try very hard not to make it just about commercialism. We do a big present (like a new bike if hse needs one, etc.) at birthdays and christmas is about little treasures, homemade gifts and being thoughtful. And of course, mince pies
Belinda, she is definitely showing more of a desire to bake herself lately, up until now she has just wanted to lick the bowl. So fingers crossed
We used to spend Christmas with friends in Vienna, with al the Christkindl markets and decorated streets, lots of Chrismas carroll concerts and usually snow. Soooo romantic.
Christmas was always my favourite time of the year too but it hasn’t been the same since my mom passed away 4 years ago. Plus here in London I’m so busy that it kind of sneaks up on you and before you know it it’s Christmas eve and you haven’t had time to make mincepies! I do usually make my own mince pies but have never tried my own mince - maybe this should be the year
I love mince pies, me
Brilliant! I am not a fan of suet mince meat. I believe I have made vegetarian mincemeat in culinary school, but I think we used the suet “substitute”…boo, hiss!
I must try this, it looks fantastic. And what thereputic prep it must require. Chopping…That is my zen.