Cranberry Mincemeat

At my parents house on Saturday, I happened to catch this programme (Grow your own drugs for Christmas).  Well, I just loved it and can't imagine how I have ever managed to miss it.  Hmmm - maybe not having a TV could account for it, but nevertheless I was very taken with everything about this show. So, first thing on Sunday morning I was online searching for the recipes, and we decided to make the cranberry mincemeat. I have copied the recipe below,  but they are all available on the website.

1 kg cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 Bramley apple, chopped - I used 2 large apples from the fruit bowl
1 tsp mixed spice
100g unsalted butter
100ml maple syrup
300g soft brown sugar
3 tbsp dark rum or Cointreau - Cointreau every time for me.
100g candied orange peel
Flour, for dusting
2 rolls ready-made shortcrust pastry - I made my own, as I didn't have any frozen stuff
Icing sugar, to dredge
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Distribute the cranberries and chopped apple between two roasting tins. Sprinkle over the mixed spice and fleck with the butter. Drizzle the maple syrup over. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the fruit is slightly shrunken with a golden tan.
3. Remove the roasted cranberries from the oven and place in a bowl. Mix in the sugar, rum or Cointreau and candied orange peel.
4. Sprinkle flour onto a work surface and roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 3mm. Using a 7cm cookie-cutter, cut out discs of pastry and place into a greased mince pie tin. Prick the base of each pie with a fork and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven, and spoon the cranberry filling into each pastry cup. Return to the oven to cook for another 5 minutes. - We added little pastry hearts and stars and so cooked them a bit longer - 10 mins maybe. 
6. Leave the pies to cool, then dredge with icing sugar.
(by James Wong - Grow your own Drugs for Christmas BBC)

I have loads of mincemeat left, so it is sitting in a large jar in the 'fridge until my big baking day, currently pencilled in for Wednesday.

I have to say that these were the most delicious mincemeat pies I have ever tasted - and I have tasted a lot in my time.  These were light, sweet, tart, fruity......  can you tell I liked them?  Everyone else did too and they disappeared almost instantly. 

Good job James made a batch too!