Authentic Old-Fashioned Mince Pie

I remember in the late 30s and early 40s my mom would cook this on the wood stove and then she would can it. We had jars and jars of it, and it was usually made with venison. I loved the mince filled cookies that she made. I've not found any commercial brand that tastes anywhere near it.

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]

What is brown cider?

I meant brown cider vinegar.

Hello, Ahryun. Thanks for your comment. This recipe is taken from our archives and "back in the day" apple cider vinegar would have been referred to as brown cider vinegar. So in this recipe you would be using apple cider vinegar.

Can you substitute lard for suet? I haven't seen suet available. I do save the fat from beef roasts. Can I substitute that?

No, do not substitute the suet. You will likely have no problem getting it. You need to ask at the meat department of your grocery (talk to top person, it's not asked for often enough for part-time butchers to know about). It's not horribly expensive.

No way!!! The orange and cinnamon combo always makes me throw up.

Could you please scale down the quantities of ingredients for just 1 pie? I might like to try it, but I'm 65 years old and live alone, so I don't need 10 pies! Thanks.

Recipe is for a dozen pies so take all ingredients reduce to the lowest common denominator and divide by 12. Tablespoons into teaspoons 1 tbsp = 3 teaspoons therefore 3 tbsps would = 9 teaspoons. Divide by 12 = would be .75 or 3/4 teaspoon. Etc for each ingredients. Good luck