A medley of dried fruits, distilled spirits, and spices, mincemeat reflects Canada’s—particularly British Columbia’s—English roots, where this fruity mix originated. Often used as a filling in pies and tarts, we incorporated the boozy, jammy filling into a buttery puff pastry braid perfect for the holiday season. For more on Canadian baking, order our November/December issue!
Mincemeat Braid
Makes about 8 servings
Ingredients
- Quick Puff Pastry (recipe follows)
- Mincemeat Filling (recipe follows)
- 1 large egg (50 grams), lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons (10 grams) whole milk
- 2 tablespoons (24 grams) turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- On a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper, roll Quick Puff Pastry into a 16x14-inch rectangle. Trim edges of dough. Spread Mincemeat Filling down center third of dough, leaving a 1-inch border at top and bottom. Using a sharp knife, cut 1-inch diagonal strips into dough on both sides of filling. Fold top and bottom pieces over filling, and braid strips of dough over filling. Pinch last piece to seal. Transfer braid with parchment to a rimmed baking sheet. Freeze for 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Brush top of dough with egg wash, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake until golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes, loosely covering with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool for 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Quick Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 2⅔ cups (333 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1⅔ cups (377 grams) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1½ teaspoons (4.5 grams) kosher salt
- ½ cup (120 grams) cold water
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat flour, cold butter, and salt at low speed just until butter is coated with flour, about 30 seconds. With mixer running, add ½ cup (120 grams) cold water in a slow, steady stream just until dough comes together, about 1 minute. (There will still be large pieces of butter.) Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 15×9-inch rectangle. Fold dough into thirds, like a letter. Rotate dough 90 degrees, and fold dough into thirds again. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Mincemeat Filling
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (76 grams) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (165 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 medium Gala apples (280 grams), peeled and grated
- 1 cup (240 grams) apple cider
- ¾ cup (96 grams) chopped dried apricots
- ¾ cup (96 grams) dried figs, stems removed, and diced
- ¾ cup (96 grams) mixed fruit peel
- ¾ cup (96 grams) sour cherries
- ½ cup (64 grams) dried cranberries
- ½ cup (64 grams) dried currants
- 1 tablespoon (9 grams) orange zest
- ⅓ cup (80 grams) fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon (11 grams) chopped candied ginger
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon (1 gram) ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon (1 gram) ground cloves
- ½ cup (120 grams) brandy
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven, melt butter and brown sugar over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Add apples, apple cider, apricots, figs, mixed peel, cherries, cranberries, currants, orange zest and juice, candied ginger, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, and cloves; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened and no liquid remains, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in brandy. Let cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate for least 12 hours before using. (Letting the mincemeat stand overnight will allow flavors to marinate and for the fruit to soak up the brandy.)
Notes
You can make Mincemeat Filling up to 1 week ahead of time. Instead of adding ½ cup (120 grams) brandy after cooking, only add ¼cup (60 grams) brandy, and reserve remaining brandy to stir in gradually every other day to keep the filling from drying out.
Where is the complete recipe for this? It says the recipes for the quick puff pastry and the mincemeat filling will follow, but there’s nothing there,
Hi Valerie!
Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. The recipe is complete now. Happy baking!