Perfect Mince Pies | Fruit Recipes | Jamie Oliver Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the filling in mince pies made of? ›

A mince pie (also mincemeat pie in North America, and fruit mince pie in Australia and New Zealand) is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat, being a mixture of fruit, spices and suet. The pies are traditionally served during the Christmas season in much of the English-speaking world.

I like to pimp up my mincemeat with a couple of extras though – a little apple adds some extra juiciness, and some dried cranberries for a modern (& tasty!) touch.

Traditions, folklore and superstitions

Stirring the mincemeat was quite an event, and English tradition dictates that it should only be stirred clockwise. Stirring the mincemeat anti-clockwise would lead to bad luck and poor fortune in the coming 12 months.

There is a tradition of eating one mince pie each day over the 12 days of Christmas from Christmas Eve to 5 January.

Mince pies have been eaten as part of a traditional British Christmas since at least the 16th century. Then they were made of a spiced, sweet minced meat mixture (often lamb), but they are now commonly made with sweet mincemeat, a mixture of dried fruits, sugar, spices, and brandy.

We all love munching on mince pies but have you ever wondered why their filling is called 'mincemeat' even though there's no meat in it? This is because long ago mince pies actually did have meat in them. They went by different names like 'mutton pie,' 'shrid pie,' or 'Christmas pie. '

Heat a pile of mincemeat in a pan with sugar, orange and lemon juice, orange peel, half a cinnamon stick and brandy, wait for it to thicken and then stir in some whipping cream.

You can use just salt and pepper or you can add virtually anything to it like jalapenos, peppers, onions, etc. Try using fresh onion rather than powder. Paprika, unless super fresh doesn't really have a taste to it-rather it is just for color.

Mincemeat over time does deepen in colour but the bitter taste may be that you pressed too hard when the citrus zests were grated!

It has been claimed that eating the snack is illegal in England if done so on Christmas Day. The tradition comes from the time of Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s, when mince pies were banned at Christmas, along with other tasty treats.

What is the etiquette for mince pies? ›

Going on to how one should formally eat a mince pie, she explains: 'One would pick up the mince pie with a thumb and first finger, and lift [it] away from the plate. 'The mince pie is crumbly, so make sure anything that falls from the mince pie falls onto your plate.

Fill each pie level with mincemeat, don't overfill as the pies have a tendency to leak and glue themselves to the tins if you do. Dip your finger in the egg and run around the edge of each mince pie and top with a lid, pressing gently together to seal.

On average, Brits each get through 14 mince pies during the festive season - but one in 100 confessed to scoffing up to 50 of the delicacies over the period. It also emerged that 57 per cent consider the mincemeat to be the best bit, while four in 10 are seduced by the buttery pastry.

To show off their money, the rich would offer pies in various shapes, such as crescents and hearts, to show off their wealth. They became a popular treat around the festive period thanks to a tradition from the middle ages, which saw people eat a mince pie for 12 days from Christmas day to Twelfth Night.

Pumpkin Pie

This pie is a traditional dessert served during the holiday season. It is made with pumpkin puree, spices, and a flaky crust, and is a popular favorite for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Pumpkin Pie is a traditional American dessert that is commonly enjoyed during the fall and winter seasons.

After knights returning from the Crusades came back with spices in-tow, they became common ingredients of the dish along with minced bits of meat (from a range of animals), suet, apples, sugar, raisins, and molasses. "They were about 30 to 50 percent meat in the late Tudor era," says food historian Annie Gray, Ph. D.

Mincemeat is a combination of chopped dried fruits, spices, sugar, nuts, distilled spirits, a fat of some type and sometimes meat. The name is a carryover from 15th century England when mincemeat did indeed have meat in the mix; in fact, the whole point of mincemeat was to preserve meat with sugar and alcohol.

Mincemeat

Mince pie / Main ingredient

Markham's recipe called for an entire leg of mutton and three pounds of suet which were mixed with salt, cloves, mace, currants, raisins, prunes, dates, and orange peel, a list of ingredients that, save for the meat, which is remarkably like that used today.