Tag: Żurawiny

Baking with Cranberry Mincemeat 1 – Easy Little Pies

  • These are the small version of the Easy Apple Cake posted recently.
  • Use the same amount of pastry and divide it into 8 or 6 portions.
  • *
  • Shortcrust pastry made from 200g plain flour, 100g butter, 1 egg yolk, juice of 1 lemon, extra water if necessary – 2 tablespoons of icing sugar optional.
  • *
  • Grease a large baking tray or two.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM6 – 200°C.
  • Roll out each piece of pastry into a thin rough circle.
  • Brush the centres with some egg yolk.
  • Add a 1-2 tablespoons of the Cranberry mincemeat.
  • Bring up the sides but do not totally cover the filling.
  • Join up the pastry slightly.
  • Brush beaten egg white over the pastry.
  • Sprinkle a little granulated over the sides.
  • Place pies on the baking sheet.
  • Bake for 15 – 20 minutes till golden.
  • Leave to cool still on the baking tray for a few minutes and then transfer onto a wire rack.
  • Serve slightly warm or leave to cool completely.
  • Evesham plate by Royal Worcester. 

Cranberry ‘Mincemeat’

  • Cranberries – in Polish – żurawiny – grew in the area around where my father used to live – the part in the North East that was Poland before WW2.
  • Lingonberries – in Polish  – borȯwki – its smaller rounder ‘cousin’ also grew there.
  • My aunties who now live in Białystok had many memories of going out to pick baskets of these fruits.
  • In fact it is one of these aunts that gave me the recipe for Cranberries & Pears Sauce, which I posted some time ago.
  • The ‘mincemeat’ here is a reference to the old English fruit & spice mixture, popular at Christmas time, that decades ago was made with meat, often mutton.
  • Nowadays in England the only meat reference is the fact that most of this fruit is mixed with beef suet.
  • There is no suet or any other fat in this recipe.
  • This with cranberries is a fresher tasting version but it will only keep in the refrigerator for around a month.
  • If you are worried about this keeping problem then just make it with half these quantities and use quickly

INGREDIENTS

  • 600g fresh cranberries
  • Grated zest of 2 oranges or satsumas
  • 150g granulated sugar
  • 150g currants
  • 150g raisins or sultanas
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon of ground cloves
  • 125ml sherry

METHOD

  • Have prepared 4 – 5 sterilised jar jars.
  • Put the cranberries, sugar, zest and juice into a saucepan and heat till the fruit starts ‘popping’.
  • Add the dried fruit and spices and continue heating and stirring for around 5 minutes.
  • Add the sherry and continue heating and stirring for another 5-10 minutes until you have a thick liquid free mixture.
  • Leave to go cold and pot up into cold sterilised jars.
  • Keep in the fridge and use within a month.

  • Option – not tested – some dried cranberries to replace some of the currants or raisins.