Mincemeat Tart
Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 15 Steps 10
Mincemeat is a spiced fruit preserve that does not in fact contain meat, although it may contain animal suet. The name is a throwback to Middle English from when "meat" was a word for all food, or to Victorian and earlier recipes that did combine minced lamb or beef with the spiced, preserved fruits.
Ingredients
Mincemeat
- 1 lb (500 g) seeded raisins
- 1 lb (500 g) currants
- ½ lb (250 g) finely-ground beef suet
- Rind of 2 lemons
- ½ lb (250 g) candied orange peel
- ½ lb (250 g) candied citron
- 12 oz (375 g) white granulated sugar
- 2 lbs (1 kg) green apples, peeled
- ½ tsp (3 mL) nutmeg
- ½ tsp (3 mL) cinnamon
- ½ cup (120 mL) brandy or rum
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) salt
Assembly
- Shortcrust pastry dough, homemade or store-bought
- Milk
- Egg (optional)
Steps
Mincemeat
- Wash and dry currants. Set aside.
- Grind citron, orange peel, lemon rind, raisins, apples and suet through a meat grinder with the coarse blade.
- Mix in currants, brandy and spices.
- Store in a tightly-covered plastic container in the refrigerator, up to 1 year. Do not freeze.
Assembly
- Warm pastry slightly to almost room temperature. Roll out on a floured cutting board as needed.
- Cut tart shells with a doughnut cutter with center removed, or a 2½ inch round cookie cutter. Gently press into 1½-inch (4 cm) tart pans.
- Fill shells with mincemeat. Top with a 1-inch (2.5 cm) round of pastry cut with the doughnut hole cutter. Optionally cut or press a design into the round first.
- Lightly brush pastry lids with milk, or milk and beaten egg.
- Bake at 425 °F (220 °C), approximately 20 minutes or until pastry is lightly browned at the edges.
- Cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar.
Notes from the original
- If you don't want to make your own pastry, store-bought pie crust will work well.
- Candied orange peel and citron can be found in most markets around Thanksgiving.
- Suet is pure beef fat and can be obtained from a butcher (they will grind it on request.) Vegetarians can substitute a solid vegetable fat such as Pura vegetable suet.
- People wanting a more alcoholic kick to their mince pie may also want to inject them with a little extra brandy.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Mincemeat Tart” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-07-13, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.