Mince pie recipes to make this Christmas (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.

To spread the joy, it was tradition in England that each member of the family gave the mixture a stir, while making a wish. And if you wanted to be ensure good health and happiness in the upcoming year, you should eat one mince pie every day for the Twelve Days of Christmas, from Christmas Eve until the 5th of January.

Go with the tradition and eat a dozen

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

Mincemeat

Mince pie / Main ingredient

"Mince" is another term for chopping meat up into very small pieces, à la ground beef. However, because the English language is confusing AF, people in the UK also refer to meat as "mince." (Even though a mince pie is not a meat pie, it's the same thing as a mincemeat pie, which has no meat.

Mincemeat isn't difficult to make, but it has a lot of ingredients, which can make it expensive to produce in small batches, and it requires at least a day's advance planning to let the ingredients sit.

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.

It's a rare American I've bumped into who likes Christmas cake or Christmas pudding. Even rarer is one who likes mince pies. But in England, Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without mince pies.

Mince pies were always a festive pie and eaten around Christmas time. Other names for mince pies include 'mutton pie', 'shrid pie' and 'Christmas pie. ' What has changed dramatically is the mince pie recipe, having begun as savoury pies filled with minced meat, suet, dried fruits, spices cloves and nutmeg.

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. Cromwell wanted to tackle gluttony in England.

What is the most eaten pie at Christmas? ›

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.

It's easy to get ahead with mince pies in advance of Christmas as the mincemeat mixture may be made a month in advance, and the pies may be made and frozen, then cooked when needed. Or, once cooked, they will keep in an air-tight tin for 5 days; just pass them through the oven to freshen the pastry before serving.

Serving to Impress

Many people enjoy mincemeat pie served warm, but it can also be served cold. The recipe below features both mini pies or you can make two nine-inch pies. You can pair mincemeat pie with ice cream, custard, or low-fat Greek yogurt for a sweet treat that's sure to impress!

Ingredients: Water, Corn Syrup, Raisins, Dried Apples, Molasses, Corn Starch Modified, Distilled Vinegar, Dried Orange And Lemon Peel, Salt, Spices, Beef, Fruit Pectin, Natural Flavor.

COOL the pie in room temperature on a baking sheet before cutting and serving. Cooling time is about 45 minutes for a warm pie or 2 hours for cooler pie. Cover unused BAKED pie portions with foil wrap and store for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 4 days when refrigerated.

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.

The "mince" in mincemeat comes from the Middle English mincen, and the Old French mincier both traceable to the Vulgar Latin minutiare, meaning chop finely. The word mincemeat is an adaptation of an earlier term minced meat, meaning finely chopped meat. Meat was also a term for food in general, not only animal flesh.

The reason is probably because mince meat pie is not very popular in the US, except maybe around the winter holidays. Walmart, and other stores, will make more money and have less waste if they carry the more popular pie flavors.

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.