Think of Christmas in the UK and one of your instant thoughts is surely going to be mince pies?
When I was little, I used to help mum make the mincemeat for the mince pies. The smell was always incredible and the sound of the squelching mixture, as I stirred, enticing. I loved that time in the kitchen with her.
Maybe one day I’ll go back to making it but for now, I buy my mincemeat and make it my own with some fresh flavours. A little stem ginger in syrup, orange or clementine zest and a drop of extra brandy!
Maybe you’ve made mince pies with whatever mincemeat you have but have you thought about how else you can make use of this festive flavour?
If there’s a little leftover after making the pies, I’ll add some to my American pancake mixture, in the same way I might add blueberries. It also works well in banana ‘ice cream’. American pancakes are always eaten with banana ice cream in our house!
But you could also make a strudel, parmiers, brownies, cheesecake, scones, cookies, muffins and flapjacks. Do a Google search for using up mincemeat and there are so many ideas to be taken advantage of. One will take your fancy, I’m sure.