What To Do With Leftover Fruit Mince
BESIDES mincemeat tarts.
When I think of Christmas, I do NOT think of fruit mince. The idea of Christmas Pudding seems ABSURD in December - doused in Brandy, flames licking like the heat outside the windows.
Christmas in Australia is HOT, and usually spent between a body of water and rooms circulating air-conditioning. Classic desserts lean more towards the ‘fridge-set’ variety - my family makes ice-cream sandwiches, and no-bake slices, and stone fruit trifle.
But 2023 marked my first Christmas in Japan, and I was eager to embrace all of the ‘cold-weather’ traditions. Temperatures weren’t low enough for any snow in Tokyo (not YET, at least), but I still felt very ~jolly~ in my thick-knitted sweater.
I was most curious about the enigmatic ‘eggnog’ - spiced and sippable zabaione? Spiked with booze? Up my alley. But
had posted a glorious Christmas pudding on , and given the hefty dose of quince, and my big batch - I HAD to try it.
At first I intended to commit to the recipe as written - fire and all! - until my partner sheepishly warned me that it may never be eaten. He wasn’t wrong - I wasn’t a fan of the steamed fruit cake either, but surely I could ‘glitz’ it up with custard? Cream? Butter?
Given there’s only our two mouths to feed and my vehement fear of food waste, I decided to make a mash of the pudding and fruit mince - BOTH by
. That way, I theorized, I could use it for multiple bakes, instead of overcommitting to ONE that wasn’t mine or my partner’s favourite.
The mince baked up beautifully, fruit each fresh, dried and candied - the candied a little labour-intensive but therapeutic, a labour of love. Sadly quince wine is non-existent in Japan so I settled for Akadama Port, and called it a day.
My first fruit mince project was inspired by Tarts Anon, the cult, Melbourne company launched during Covid by Gareth Whitton. One of its four Christmas releases was an eggnog (!) mincemeat number that had my name all over it - particularly after my quince/custard/frangipane conquest.
I started with a simple, sweet pastry by Queen Nicola, then spread my fruit mince over the shell (once cooled). The custard was my go-to recipe by Marcus Wareing, though unfortunately, I miscalculated and overbaked it slightly.
Slices, while firm, were still tasty little morsels - not quite what I had pictured but my tin is too shallow. In future: deeper dish, thinner pastry, FRESH nutmeg, and less time in the oven (blind bake included) - we want a wobble!
TART DOUGH:
90g icing sugar, sifted
90g butter
1 egg (50g)
30g almond meal
230g plain flour
1g salt (nice pinch!)
Cube your butter and mix with sifted icing sugar until well combined. It does NOT have to be creamed.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg.
Mix the dries together - flour, almonds and salt - then pour into the wet and mix on a low speed until it comes together.
Pat into a flat shape and wrap in clingfilm, chill in the fridge for an hour on more.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of paper to around 2-3mm thickness. Chill the rolled out dough on a flat tray for 20 minutes to firm up.
Line your case, pressing the pastry all the way to the edges, and place it back into the fridge to rest for 20-30 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 170C. Weigh down the base with baking paper/foil and rice.
Bake for around 15 minutes until golden.
MINCEMEAT:
175g prunes, chopped
155g golden raisins
150g candied quince, chopped
145g currants
95g diced candied peel
60g diced candied ginger (crystallised or stem)
125ml brandy
125ml quince wine, sweet sherry or calvados
230g quince (2 medium), peel, cored and grated
225g brown butter, cold, grated
220g dark brown sugar
125g toasted slivered almonds
Zest and juice of one orange
150g thick cut marmalade
18g mixed spice
1½ tsp kosher salt
Combine prunes, raisins, candied quince, currants, candied peel and candied ginger. Add half the brandy and quince wine, stirring to combine. Cover and let sit overnight at room temperature.
The next day, in a large pot, combine the remaining ingredients. Add the fruit mixture and stir it all together until well-combined.
Cook on low for around half an hour. Add remaining alcohol. Let cool in the pot to room temperature.
Spread a layer over cooled tart base.
CUSTARD:
9 egg yolks
75g of caster sugar, plus extra for brulee
500ml of whipping cream
Nutmeg (fresh, preferably!)
Preheat oven to 130°C.
Bring the cream to the boil. Whisk the yolks and sugar together then add the cream and mix well. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug.
Place the pastry + mincemeat case in the oven then pour the custard mix right to the brim. Grate over the nutmeg.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the custard appears set but not too firm. Cool to room temperature, then move to the fridge.
My next mincemeat conquest was a stroke of (self-titled) genius - why not replace the dates in sticky date pudding with fruit mince instead? I searched but couldn’t find a HINT of this technique online - it’s not groundbreaking, of course, but it does elevate one of the world’s best desserts.
I used Nagi’s (RecipeTin) recipe, making the mincemeat substitution, and adding a generous glug of brandy to the butterscotch sauce. Nicola’s school custard came together beautifully as an accompaniment, to be served alongside a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream.
It was unbelievably tasty, completely scoffed by my partner, faster and more enthusiastically than anything I’d baked in months. It made me question whether elaborate layer cakes are a waste of time (particularly given my ordinary skill level…) - should I be focusing on the fan-favourite, nostalgic classics instead?
STICKY DATE PUDDING: Substitute dates for fruit mince. Add glug of brandy to butterscotch sauce.
SCHOOL CUSTARD:
Final mincemeat mission (though I STILL have enough to make these XXL Fruit Mince Cheese Scones!) was one I had flagged for MONTHS but avoided due to lack of KitchenAid in Japan (left it in Australia!). Buttery brioche is so, damn, hard to make by hard - the dough is very wet and tricky to knead without adding excess flour.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about these buns, and figured, f*ck it - if nonnas in Italy can make brioche by hand then it isn’t impossible, just a challenge. I even watched a few YouTube videos (rare for me) to make the process easier - I learned that resting is the answer, one between every, single step .
The recipe is another Nicola Lamb work of art - Hot Cross Custard Buns, think hot cross buns x cinnamon rolls x pain au raisin. I followed the recipe exactly but substituted the ‘dried fruit and peel’ in both the dough and the filling with my mincemeat instead.
Surprisingly, the dough was more ‘hand friendly’ than expected, and the spiced pastry cream was DIVINE. I was disappointed by my second rise, but thrilled by my third, and my aunty assumed the final product had been bought at our local bakery. Nice!
I still firmly believe that proper gluten development is only possible with the power of a bread hook knead. Still, the dough was decent - more than decent, it was delicious, and I will remake the infused custard filling, without a doubt.
MINCEMENT CUSTARD BUNS: Substitute the ‘dried fruit and peel’ with 110g fruit mince.