Instant Chocolate Mincemeat

Instant Chocolate Mincemeat is quick and easy to make.  it’s ideal if you want to make your own mincemeat but didn’t quite get around to making soon enough for it to mature properly

What is Mincemeat?

Mincemeat is a rich mixture of dried fruits, spices, apples, citrus zest and juice, alcohol and suet or butter. It is mainly used to fill sweet shortcrust pastry tarts which are served as individual Mince Pies.

Mince Pies are the classic way to use Christmas Mincemeat. Sweet shortcrust pastry is filled with mincemeat with a pastry lid on top.  I like to make Mini Mince Pies because they are the perfect little mouthful for tea time or parties. 

Is there meat in Mincemeat?

Originally, there was meat in mincemeat as well as the dried fruit and spices. This is how it got its name.  The meat element was gradually replaced with beef suet. 

I use vegetable suet but you can also use butter. This means the mincemeat is also suitable for vegetarians.

How to make Instant Chocolate Mincemeat

Start the mincemeat by zesting a lemon. Grate the zest (the yellow part of the lemon) use a special lemon zester or peel off a fine layer and cut it up with a knife. 

Then squeeze the juice of half the lemon. Put the juice and zest in a medium-sized bowl.

Add the dried fruits, sugar, chocolate, vegetable suet, brandy and nuts to the apple and lemon and mix thoroughly with a spoon 

You can use any combination of dried fruits and nuts. Use what you like and what you have in your store cupboard. 

When can I use the chocolate mincemeat?

You can use this mincemeat straight away or put it in a clean container and store in the fridge for a week. 

More Mincemeat Recipes from Farmersgirl Kitchen 

Easy Slow Cooker Mincemeat with Ginger

Dark Chocolate Mincemeat is a cooked mincemeat recipe that needs to be made ahead of time. 

More Mincemeat Recipes

Chocolate Cherry Mincemeat from Something Sweet, Something Svoury

Lemon and Ginger Mincemeat from Tin & Thyme 

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Instant Chocolate Mincemeat

This is mincemeat that you can mix up quickly using any mixture of dried fruits and nuts you have in your cupboard, the addition of some chopped chocolate, adds a lovely richness to the fruit mixture

5 from 1 vote

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Course: preserves

Cuisine: British

Keyword: chocolate, instant, mincemeat

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Servings: 12

Author: Janice Pattie

Equipment

• weighing scales
• bowl
• spoon
• grater
• Lemon squeezer
• knife

Ingredients

• 1 lemon zest
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 1 Apple dessert
• 50 g sultanas
• 50 g dried cranberries
• 50 g prunes chopped
• 50 g raisins
• 1 tbsp brandy
• 100 g dark brown sugar
• 60 g vegetable suet
• 50 g dark chocolate chopped
• 1 tbsp pistaschio nuts chopped

Metric - US Customary units

Instructions

• Put the zest and lemon juice in a bowl, grate the apple including the skin, into the juice.
• Add all the other ingredients and stir.
• Store in a lidded jar in the fridge until ready to use.

Notes

You can use any dried fruit and any nuts you like in this Instant Chocolate Mincemeat recipe. 

You can also leave out the chocolate and add additional dreid fruit to make a more traditional instant mincemat.