This Boozy British Dessert Will Steal the Spotlight at Every Holiday Gathering

Sometime around mid-October, the vibe at my local London supermarket begins to change. Mince pies—miniature pastries with a sweet, boozy filling of dried fruit—begin to appear. Their arrival heralds the very beginning of the British holiday season, and is something many Brits look forward to all year long. Though the pastries are readily available to purchase (at least in the UK), homemade mince pies are a tradition for many families, with children and adults alike taking turns stirring the mincemeat clockwise, which is rumored to guarantee good luck in the year ahead. 

Inspired by the many store-bought mince pies I’ve eaten through the years, I decided this year it was finally time to make my own. So I set out to create my ideal mince pie: one with a crumbly, buttery pastry and a boozy filling of grated fresh apples, dried fruit, brown sugar, and citrus. 

A Brief History of the Mince Pie

Though mince pies are now commonly thought of as a classic British Christmas pastry, they owe their roots to Islamic cookery in the Middle East. Writing about the history of mince pies for Smithsonian magazine, Ben Panko notes that during the 12th century, Crusaders returning to Europe from the Middle East brought Islamic cooking traditions—like preparing both sweet and savory meat dishes with spices and fruit—with them. One of the earliest known recipes for a dish resembling mince pie appears in the 1390 cookbook The Forme of Cury, which contains a recipe for a “tart of flesh” filled with pork, rabbit, a bird of some kind, along with sugar, saffron, and spices. Another recipe in Gervase Markham’s 1615 cookbook The English Huswife, recommended mixing a whole leg of mutton and three pounds of suet with cloves, mace, currants, prunes, and orange peel for a large mince pie. 

In the days before refrigeration, mincemeat was a way for resourceful cooks to preserve meat without drying, smoking, or curing it. Over the years, different meats, including rump steak, veal, and tripe have all been used to make mince pies, along with fish and lobster. In 2015, food historian Ivan Day recreated a mince pie recipe from the 1720s, noting that the finished pie—made with minced beef tongue, the most popular filling of that era—did not taste meaty, thanks to the many spices and dried fruits in the pie. 

Later versions were not without controversy. Legend has it that the English puritan statesman Oliver Cromwell banned mince pies in the 17th century, and though this isn’t entirely true, he did attempt to outlaw anything he saw as “frivolous, godless additions to the Christian faith,” the journalist Veronique Greenwood notes for the BBC. The resulting stigma around the pies caused them to fall out of fashion. But by the 19th century, they were back in full force. As sugar from the West Indies became more readily available in Britain, mince pies began to lean sweet rather than savory.  Eventually, the meat (except for beef suet, which many recipes still use) disappeared altogether, creating the contemporary version of these Christmas treats.

How to Make and Age Mincemeat

In the UK, many home cooks prepare their pies with jarred mincemeat, a shortcut to the lengthy aging process that involves soaking dried fruit in alcohol for several weeks—or in some cases, several months—which allows the filling to develop its boozy flavor and soft, juicy texture. Some enthusiastic cooks like myself, however, like to prepare the filling from scratch. Most mincemeat recipes consist of a combination of dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants, dried peel), fresh fruit (apples, citrus), alcohol (usually rum, whisky, or brandy), spices, and sugar. Sometimes nuts, such as blanched almonds, are added to the mixture as well. 

Although scratch-made mincemeat requires a healthy dose of patience and some fridge space, it’s actually quite simple to make. Though making good mincemeat takes time, preparing it is very simple: All you have to do is combine dried and fresh fruit, shredded suet, sugar, spices, and alcohol in a bowl and then allow the mixture to soak overnight, stirring periodically to help the liquid absorb. Then, you’ll scoop the mincemeat into sterilized jars and allow these to rest in the refrigerator for at least two weeks or up to one month. As the mincemeat matures, the flavor deepens, becoming boozier and more citrus-forward and bringing out the taste of the raisins and currants. The texture also improves with age, creating soft, juicy fruit in a syrupy sauce.

To make mince pies the traditional way, it’s worth buying shredded beef or vegetable suet. Both may be difficult to locate at regular supermarkets in the US, but are available to purchase online or at specialty grocery stores. According to Day, early cooks needed to find a way to prevent the filling from becoming overly dry, so they added “good old fashioned fat in the form of suet.” The ingredient remains standard in modern mince pie recipes. Though you could try substituting with butter, it clumps easily when tossed with the filling, and isn’t nearly as easy to work with as suet.

For classic mince pies, you’ll also need mixed spice, a blend of cinnamon, coriander, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg that is used in a variety of British recipes, including hot cross buns and Christmas cake. Finally, you’ll need mixed peel, another frequent addition to festive British recipes. Sometimes called “holiday fruit” in the US, candied peel can be found in the seasonal baking aisle.

I recommend aging the mincemeat for at least two weeks, and ideally for a month. While you can use homemade mincemeat immediately, the dried fruit will still be fairly firm, with excess liquid that hasn’t had time to absorb into the fruit, and little depth of flavor. It’s worth aging your mincemeat for as long as you can spare—even if it’s just for a few days—as the flavor and texture will develop further with each passing day. If you’re very short on time, opt for store-bought mincemeat instead. Jarred mincemeat can be found in the international aisle at supermarkets or at specialty grocery stores, and can also be purchased online.

Food Safety Considerations

Although some recipes suggest storing the jars in a cool, dark place, I recommend aging homemade mincemeat in the refrigerator. The fridge’s cold temperature inhibits bacterial growth, reducing the risk of foodborne illness and extending the mincemeat’s shelf life. The alcohol in this recipe adds flavor to the mincemeat, and it also acts as a preservative. While you can vary the type of alcohol, I do not recommend substituting a non-alcoholic liquid unless you plan to use the mincemeat immediately.

4 Tips for Making the Best Mince Pies

Stir the mince. Before filling the pastry shells, scoop the homemade mince into a bowl and give it a good stir to ensure that the thick, boozy syrup is equally distributed throughout.

Don’t overfill. The mincemeat should remain level with the edge of the pastry, not domed or overflowing the cup. Excess filling can bubble over, creating a sticky mess and making it difficult to remove the pies.

Use egg yolk in the pastry. Beaten egg yolk (rather than whole egg) gives the pastry a deep golden brown color. To prevent the pastry from burning, keep the egg wash light.

Use a mince pie pan if you have one. Traditional mince pie pans look like muffin pans, but with round-bottomed cavities. If you have a mince pie pan, I recommend using it for this recipe. However, you can use a standard 12-cup muffin tin as well—you’ll just have to use a larger ring cutter (a 4 1/2-inch ring cutter as opposed to a 3 1/2-inch one) to punch out the dough, since muffin tins are much deeper than mince pie tins. Mince pie pans are readily available to purchase online via Amazon.

How to Serve Mince Pies

You can serve mince pies warm or at room temperature. Dust them with powdered sugar, drizzle with cream (in Britain, brandy cream is a popular accompaniment) or simply enjoy them plain. But however you eat your mince pies, don’t forget to make a wish—a tradition when eating the first pie of the season.

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