Recipe Medlar Fruit Mince

Medlar Fruit Mince

Ever wondered what to do with medlars? Here is a recipe to make a delicious fruit mince for those moorish fruit mince pies, that are so popular around Christmas time. Make the Fruit Mince when your medlars are ripe (in July or thereabouts), for use later in the year.

Ingredients:

200 g medlars

juice and peel of 1 orange

juice and peel of 1 lemon

50 g sultanas

100 g raisins

50 g pitted dates, chopped finely

2 tbsp glacé ginger, chopped finely

110 g butter, softened

80 g muscovado or brown sugar

25 g blanched almonds, chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

half a tsp ground nutmeg

half a tsp ground cloves (4 cloves)

half a tsp ground cardamom (2 pods)

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp liqueur (whatever you prefer, Cointreau is good, or Grand Marnier par example)

Method:

Start by making the medlar puree. You can pick your medlars when they are still hard, but come off the tree easily, like an apple. 

Then you put them away in a single layer on a tray somewhere cool for weeks, until they are soft and rotten inside. Check them occasionally for any that go mouldy. Throw those out; you want them rotten, not mouldy.

• Put your medlars in a saucepan with a little water and boil them for a few minutes. Cool them slightly and rub them through a sieve. This way, you separate the skins and the seeds from the pulp. It is the pulp you want.
• Mix this pulp together with all the other ingredients, apart from the liqueur.
• Cover and put in the fridge overnight.
• Next day, preheat the oven to 120 degrees C.
• Put your mixture in an ovenproof pan, covered with a lid for about 3 hours.
• Make sure you have 2 jars of 250 ml each, ready and sterilised.
• Take your mixture out of the oven and immediately stir the liqueur through.
• Spoon into jars.
• Leave them for 1 month minimum, but three is better.

Your fruit mince is now ready to use in fruit mince pies. Enjoy!