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Mince Pies
Miss Prissie.
Three pounds of raisins, stone and chop them a little; three pounds of currants, three pounds of sugar, three pounds of suet chopped very fine, two ounces candied lemon peel, two ounces of candied orange peel, six large apples grated, one ounce of cinnamon, two nutmegs, the juice of three lemons and the rinds grated, and half a pint of brandy. Excellent.
This is a mincemeat filling rather than a finished pie: the original assumes the cook already knows how to line a dish, fill it and bake it. It makes a great deal, and the proportions are worth adjusting downward before you begin.
- YieldAs written this comes to something like 15 lb of mincemeat once the apples, peel and liquid are counted, enough for a large batch of pies or several dozen small tarts. A quarter of the recipe gives a little under 4 lb, which will fill two pies comfortably.
- Half a pint of brandyAn American half-pint is 1 cup (240 ml). It is doing double duty as flavouring and as preservative, so do not cut it if you intend to store the mixture.
- SuetBeef suet is the hard kidney fat, and grating it is easier than chopping if it is very cold or half-frozen. Packaged shredded suet, vegetarian suet, or an equal weight of frozen grated butter all work, though butter softens the texture.
- Stoning raisinsNineteenth-century raisins came with seeds; modern ones do not, so skip the stoning and simply chop coarsely. "Currants" here are dried Zante currants, not fresh berries.
- Spices are heavyOne ounce of cinnamon is about 4 tablespoons ground, and two whole nutmegs grate out to 4-5 teaspoons. That is assertive even for this quantity of fruit; start with half and taste.
- Candied peelTwo ounces each of lemon and orange peel means the stiff candied peel sold in blocks or diced, not fresh zest. The grated lemon rind called for at the end is separate and should be added raw.
- Let it sitNothing is cooked here. Pack the mixture into jars, and it improves markedly after a week or two as the brandy draws juice from the fruit. Keep it refrigerated rather than in a cool larder, and use within a couple of months, or freeze it.
- Baking the piesThe recipe itself gives no baking directions. By modern practice, fill a double-crust pie, vent the top, and bake at 425F for 20 minutes to set the pastry, then lower to 350F for another 25-30 minutes until well browned. The filling only needs heating through; the crust dictates the timing.
Mince pies began as genuinely meaty things: medieval and early modern English "minced pyes" combined chopped beef or mutton tongue with dried fruit, spice and suet, the sugar and spices often said to serve to preserve as much as to flavour. In this recipe the meat has gone altogether, with suet the last remnant of the older formula. The book prints recipes under the names of the women who sent them in, which is why "Miss Prissie" and her single-word verdict, "Excellent," survive alongside the ingredient list.