Christmas Baking - Fruit Mince

I've been flicking through Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management to see how Christmas baking was done in 1861.   It seems like plum pudding and fruit mince pies containing actual beef were the highlights.  Christmas baking didn't seem like that big a deal, which is a little disappointing as I thought the Victorians would have invented the Christmas baking frenzy, along with all the other Christmas traditions they introduced.

Mrs Beeton's book is a fascinating read.  It was published as a guide for the modern Victorian housewife who had servants to manage and morning calls to receive.  The cookery section made the book famous as the recipes included precise measurements and actual cooking times, one of the very first to do so.  Mrs Beeton introduces the Cookery section with the following:

"As in the Fine Arts, the progress of mankind from barbarism to civilisation is marked by a gradual succession of triumphs over the rude materialities of nature, so in the art of cookery is the progress gradual from the earliest and simplest modes, to those of the most complicated and refined."

I am about to disappoint Mrs Beeton by using a jar of ready-made fruit mince, an act which is neither complicated nor refined, just simply convenient.  If I was in 1861, making fruit mince would have involved removing currants from their stalks, carefully picking over said currants to remove all stones and grit, stoning the raisins, and mincing beef and suet, all at the beginning of December for use in a fortnight's time.  Life is too short, even with the packaged dried fruit available today and the non-involvement of any meat products. There is good quality fruit mince available, and I say embrace the ready-made.  Mrs Beeton seemed like a pragmatic sort of a woman for her era and class, so I am hoping the 2011 version of her would understand the competing priorities of the modern woman and support my decision, however unrefined.

Fruit mince pies - blind bake sweet pastry in mini-muffin tins, add the fruit mince and bake for 5 minutes at 150 degrees celsius.  For a traditional look, decorate with a star and dust with icing sugar.

 For a more contemporary look, top with some pashmak (Persian fairy floss).

Fruit mince shortbread slice - Make a shortbread mixture in a food processor (a traditional recipe works best as you need the structural integrity of rice flour) to which you add two egg yolks.  Press two-thirds of the mixture into a 23x23cm tin and spread over a 410g jar of fruit mince.  Sprinkle the remaining shortbread mixture over the top.  Froth up the egg whites and pour over the top.  Sprinkle with sugar and bake, in the words of Mrs Beeton, in a "brisk" oven (180 degrees celsius) for 20 minutes.

Pin It