Cherry Pear Mincemeat Food

MINCEMEAT CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry. Trim evenly with edge of plate. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour into crust. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in top. Cover edges loosely with foil. Bake at 400° for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

MINCEMEAT

Steps:

• Combine cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice in a bowl. Reserve 1 heaped teaspoon for the mincemeat. Store the rest in a small jar for a later use.
• Inspect two 12-ounce jars for cracks and rings for rust, discarding any defective ones. Immerse in simmering water until mincemeat is ready. Wash new, unused lids and rings in warm soapy water.
• Combine apple, sultanas, sugar, currants, raisins, and butter in a saucepan. Cook over low heat and stir gently until butter has melted. Stir in chopped almonds, orange zest, 1 teaspoon of mixed spice, and cinnamon. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and set mincemeat aside to cool down for 30 minutes. Stir in brandy. Spoon into sterilized jars.

PEAR MINCEMEAT

Steps:

• Measure first 5 ingredients into large pot. Stir.
• Grind next 4 ingredients into same pot. Stir well.
• Add remaining ingredients.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Simmer; uncovered, until thick.
• Spoon into hot sterilized pint jars to within 1/2 inch of top. Place sterilized metal lids on jars and screw metal bands on securely. For added assurance against spoilage, you may choose to process in a boilnig water bath for 20 minutes.
• This also freezes well. If stored in containers in refrigerator, it keeps at least 1 year.
• Pear Mincemeat Pie:.
• To make a 9 inch pie from recipe, use 2 cups mincemeat, 3/4 cups apple sauce and 1 1/2 tsbp minute tapioca. Bake on bottom shelf of 400 degree oven for about 30-35 minutes, until browned.

PEAR MINCEMEAT WITH APRICOTS

Steps:

• In a large pot, combine the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and salt. Mix well.
• Into the same pot, add the pears, orange, lemon, apple and apricot. Mash together.
• Stir in the grape juice, vinegar, raisins, and currants. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Simmer, uncovered, until thick.
• Spoon into hot sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch of jar top. Seal. Check seal the top of the lid lid should not move when pressed. If seal isn't good refrigerate and use within 1 week. If stored in well sealed containers in refrigerator, it keeps at least one year!

VEGAN MINCE PIES

Steps:

• You ideally need to prepare the mincemeat the day before you bake the vegan mince pies. Start by placing the currants, raisins, sultanas, cranberries, mixed peel, soft brown sugar, almonds, coconut oil, grated bramley apple, spices and orange zest and juice in a large saucepan.
• Heat gently, stirring, until the coconut oil has melted then simmer very gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat, allow to cool a little then stir in the booze of your choice. Ladle it into two large, or four regular sized sterilised jars and set aside until completely cold (overnight is best).
• To make the coconut oil pastry, place the flour, icing sugar, salt and orange zest in a food processor and pulse to combine.
• Add the cold, diced coconut oil and blend until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make sure that no lumps of coconut oil remain; you may need to blend it in two batches if your food processor isn't very big.
• Add the cold vodka and 2 Tbsp water and blend again until the pastry starts to come together. You can add a drop more water if needed. Bring the pastry together with your hands.
• Roll the pastry out thinly on a lightly floured surface and use an approx 10-11cm cutter to cut out rounds (I cut round the base of a small tart tin with a sharp knife as I don't have a cutter big enough). It may be easier to roll out a quarter of the pastry at a time rather than all of it in one go. (If the pastry is too soft then you can pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up a little but don't let it get too cold or it will be hard to roll out.)
• Line a 12 cup muffin tray with strips of baking parchment - this makes it easy to get the baked vegan mince pies out of the tin. Gently press the pastry rounds into the prepared tin.
• Fill each one with a heaped spoonful of the mincemeat - be generous but don't fill them right to the top as it will bubble up as it cooks.
• Re-roll the pastry trimmings and use a cutter the same size as the cavities in your muffin tin to cut out six rounds. Use a star cutter to cut a star out of the centre of each round.
• Top each of the mince pies with either a star or a round. If you are topping them with a round then brush the edge of the pastry with water and press the top down firmly around the edge to seal.
• Place the tray of mince pies in the freezer for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5.
• Brush the tops of the mince pies with a little non-dairy milk then bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling. Use the strips of baking parchment to lift them out of the tin onto a wire rack and leave to cool before eating. Don't leave them to cool in the tin as any mincemeat that bubbles over will cement them in!

CHERRY PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Refrigerate while preparing filling., In a large bowl, toss pears and cherries with lemon juice and extract. In a small bowl, mix sugar and cornstarch; add to pear mixture, tossing to coat. Transfer to pastry-lined pie plate., For topping, in a small bowl, mix flour and sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in almonds. Sprinkle over filling., Bake 50-60 minutes or until golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cover edge loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Cool on a wire rack.

PEAR AND SOUR CHERRY MINCEMEAT PIE

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out half of dough 1/8 inch thick (about a 12-inch round). Fit dough into a 9-inch (1-quart capacity) pie plate and trim edge, leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Chill shell 30 minutes.
• On lightly floured surface roll out remaining dough 1/8 inch thick (about a 10-inch round) and with a sharp large knife or pastry wheel cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Put a 9-inch cardboard round (see above) on a baking sheet and arrange 4 pastry strips 3/4 inch apart in middle of round. Working with 1 pastry strip at a time, weave remaining strips over and under pastry strips on round, beginning in middle and working out to sides, and letting excess hang over round. Freeze lattice top, covered loosely, on round on baking sheet until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425° F.
• Spoon mincemeat into shell, smoothing top. Lift lattice top together with round off baking sheet and slide pastry carefully onto pie. (If pastry sticks to baking sheet or round, pry loose carefully with a small knife.) Let lattice top soften until pliable and trim flush with rim of pie plate. Roll shell overhang up over edge of lattice top, crimping edge decoratively. Brush lattice top with egg wash and bake pie in middle of oven until pastry is golden and filling just begins to bubble around edge, about 25 minutes. Transfer pie to a rack and cool. Serve pie warm or at room temperature.

PEAR & MINCEMEAT CRUMBLE CAKE

Steps:

• Put pears into a non-stick frying pan with 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp water. Cover, then cook over a medium heat for 10 mins until just tender, stirring every so often. There shouldn't be juices once the pears are cooked. Add the spice; leave to cool.
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter then line the base and sides of a 20cm round, deep cake tin. Put butter, sugar, vanilla and ¼ tsp salt into a large bowl. Beat with an electric hand whisk until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and flour, beat until smooth, then fold in almonds with a spoon. Remove 85g batter and put into a small bowl. Into this add the plain flour and chop into the mix with a cutlery knife to make a soft, crumbly-looking mix.
• Spoon half the cake mix into the tin, top with half the pears, dot over half the mincemeat, then dollop the rest of the cake mix on top. Scatter with remaining pears, mincemeat, then the crumble mix. Sprinkle with final 1 tbsp sugar. Bake for 1½ hrs, covering with foil after 1 hr, until golden, risen and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then cool on a rack. Keep it in the lining paper, as this will help it stay moist. Will keep, well wrapped in an airtight tin, for 5 days. Freeze for 1 month.

PEAR AND SOUR CHERRY MINCEMEAT

Steps:

• Peel, quarter, and core pears. Chop pears coarse and in a bowl toss with lemon juice.
• In a dry 3 1/2- to 4-quart heavy saucepan cook 1/3 cup sugar over moderate heat, stirring with a fork, until melted and cook, without stirring, swirling pan, until a golden caramel. Remove pan from heat and carefully add water down side of pan (caramel will steam and harden). Return pan to heat and simmer mixture, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Add pears, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, cherries, raisins, spices, and salt and simmer, stirring occasionally at beginning of cooking and frequently toward end to prevent sticking, until thickened, about 50 minutes.
• Stir in walnuts and brandy and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Cool mincemeat. Mincemeat may be used immediately but will improve in flavor if kept, covered and chilled, at least 1 day and up to 1 week.