Tis the season for mince pies and for those that want to surpass last year’s homemade mince pies– which really just involve rolling out the pastry and adding the filling! – get ready to make your own mincemeat and impress your friends. Seriously easy to make, the Ball® brand Spiced Pear Mincemeat will be your secret weapon, and is easy to make, and ideal to eat straight away, or preserve for next year too!
Ball® Brand Spiced Pear Mincemeat
Yield: about 9 (490ml) jars
- 3.15 Bartlett pears (about 21 medium)
- 1 lemon
- 900g sultanas
- 1.52kg sugar
- 1 tablespoon cloves
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 240ml vinegar, 5% acidity
Prep: wash pears and lemon under cold running water; drain. Cut pears in half lengthways and core. Coarsely chop pears. Cut lemon into quarters and remove seeds. Finely chop lemon, including peel, using food processor or food grinder.
Cook: combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over a medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
Fill: ladle hot mincemeat into a hot jar, leaving ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Clean jar rim. Centre lid on jar and adjust band to fingertip-tight. Place jar on the rack elevated over simmering water in hot water bath preserver. Repeat until all jars are filled.
Process: lower the rack into simmering water. Water must cover jars by 2.5cm. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover and bring water to a rolling boil. Process 490ml jars 25 minutes. Turn off heat and remove cover. Let jars cool 5 minutes. Remove jars, do not retighten bands if loose. Cool 12 hours. Test seals. Label and store jars.
