I prefer to use Godey's Lady's Book's 1864 recipe for Mincemeat without Meat, which can be found in Lily May Spaulding and John Spaulding's "Civil War Recipes: Receipts from the Pages of Godey's Lady's Book". I did have to make some changes, but it is a good recipe and it makes enough for two to four 9" pies. With the brandy and sherry it keeps well. However, it's not for vegans as it calls for half a pound beef suet. I'll put suggestions and/or my changes in brackets.
1 lb hard apples, cut small [I suggest picking a good baking apple for this, peel and core it]
1 lb currants [or same quantity dried cranberries or half dried cranberries and half currants]
1/2 pound beef suet
1/2 pound shred raisin [I still haven't found out what shred rasin is, I just use regular rasins and run them through
the food processor]
1/4 lb (1/2 cup) moist sugar [had to look this up, brown sugar with added molasses seems to come close to what
they were using; either go with 1/2 cup dark brown sugar with 1 tbsp molasses or 1/2
cup light brown sugar with 2 tbsp molasses]
1 oz (2 tbsp) lemon peel, candied
1 oz (2 tbsp) citron peel, candied
1/4 oz (1 1/2 to 2 tsp) cinnamon
1 drachm (3/4 tsp) mace
1 lemon rind, grated [use a zester if you prefer]
1 glass (1/4 cup) brandy [first time I made this I didn't realize the Spauldings had explained in the front of the book
the glasses they were using in the reciepe was closser to a quarter of a cup and I had to
guess on the size glass they meant, ended up more with a 6 to 8 oz glass so that first batch
was extremely boozy]
2 glasses (1/2 cup) sherry
[Run every thing through the raisins through a food processor one at a time and add to a large mixing bowl or salad bowl. Then slowly add in the rest of the ingredients one at a time and mix well. Store in quart containers, tightly closed, for at least two weeks before using to let the flavor develop]
I prefer to use Godey's Lady's Book's 1864 recipe for Mincemeat without Meat, which can be found in Lily May Spaulding and John Spaulding's "Civil War Recipes: Receipts from the Pages of Godey's Lady's Book". I did have to make some changes, but it is a good recipe and it makes enough for two to four 9" pies. With the brandy and sherry it keeps well. However, it's not for vegans as it calls for half a pound beef suet. I'll put suggestions and/or my changes in brackets.
1 lb hard apples, cut small [I suggest picking a good baking apple for this, peel and core it]
1 lb currants [or same quantity dried cranberries or half dried cranberries and half currants]
1/2 pound beef suet
1/2 pound shred raisin [I still haven't found out what shred rasin is, I just use regular rasins and run them through
the food processor]
1/4 lb (1/2 cup) moist sugar [had to look this up, brown sugar with added molasses seems to come close to what
they were using; either go with 1/2 cup dark brown sugar with 1 tbsp molasses or 1/2
cup light brown sugar with 2 tbsp molasses]
1 oz (2 tbsp) lemon peel, candied
1 oz (2 tbsp) citron peel, candied
1/4 oz (1 1/2 to 2 tsp) cinnamon
1 drachm (3/4 tsp) mace
1 lemon rind, grated [use a zester if you prefer]
1 glass (1/4 cup) brandy [first time I made this I didn't realize the Spauldings had explained in the front of the book
the glasses they were using in the reciepe was closser to a quarter of a cup and I had to
guess on the size glass they meant, ended up more with a 6 to 8 oz glass so that first batch
was extremely boozy]
2 glasses (1/2 cup) sherry
[Run every thing through the raisins through a food processor one at a time and add to a large mixing bowl or salad bowl. Then slowly add in the rest of the ingredients one at a time and mix well. Store in quart containers, tightly closed, for at least two weeks before using to let the flavor develop]