Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Fruitmince

This isn't a very Italian thing to make but it's part and parcel of celebrating Christmas in Australia - at least it is in our household.

One of my pet peeves in normal Fruitmince is the presence of mixed peel or to put in another way, the presence of poor quality mixed peel. Hard, flavourless squares of nondescript citrus that are impossible to digest. So I've taking to making my own and making a rather more luxurious version of the old favourite.

The replacement for mixed peel comes in the form of glacé fruits

glace fruits© by haalo


Starting from the top and going clockwise, we have Glacé Orange Slices, Cedro, Whole Glacé Mandarin, Glacé Peaches, Glacé Pears, Glacé Apricots, Angelica and in the centre, Glacé Figs.

Of these, the two less common are Angelica and Cedro.

angelica© by haalo


Angelica is the candied stem of the Angelica plant

cedro© by haalo


Cedro is candied Citron - a species of citrus fruit, popular in Mediterranean cooking.

The recipe that follows for fruitmince is really a guide and it can be made to suit your own particular tastes.

fruitmince© by haalo


Fruitmince
[Makes a fair bit!]

250 grams currants
250 grams raisins
250 grams sultanas
125 grams slivered almonds
220 grams brown sugar
100 grams/5 slices glacé orange slices
50 grams/2 glacé apricots
75 grams/2 glacé pears
75 grams/2 glacé peaches
70 grams/2 glacé figs
35 grams/1 whole glacé mandarin
30 grams Angelica
30 grams Cedro
2 oranges, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup Frangelico
½ cup Vecchia Romagna Brandy

First off you need to have a large bowl that will take all these ingredients.

All the glacé fruits need to be finely sliced so I would recommend doing this first before continuing with the recipe. It means your hands need only get sticky once. Once this is done you can put assemble the fruitmince.

Place the sugar in the bowl followed by the currants, sultanas and raisins. Give it a brief stir to break up the sugar.

Add the nuts and stir again.

Add the sliced glacé fruits, and stir through again.

Sprinkle over with the grated zest, cinnamon and nutmeg followed by the orange juice and liqueurs. Give it a good stir making sure that the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge.

Next day, give it a taste, you might need to add a little more alcohol or juice or a little more spice if so desired.

Later on in the week I'll be posting one of the things that I use this for.

9 comments

  1. wow haalo, that fruit mince looks fabulous! can i ask where in melbourne did you source the glace's from? not sure i've seen them around before?

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  2. This looks so colorful - and delicious!

    I'm curious about your recipe, Haalo. But I'm sure it will be awsome, starting with this fruitmince.

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  3. Hi Ilingc and Thanks. The glace fruits are from Prahran Market, there's an excellent selection available. In particular, angelica, cedro and mandarin are from Essential Ingredient and the rest from The Sweet and Nut Shop.

    Thanks Patricia - I won't keep you in suspense too long!

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  4. I'll send you the address in time for Xmas. One lot for me, two for my parents, one for my brother, four for friends....

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  5. Trig - I better start chopping now to get all those orders done ;)

    Thanks Paz!

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  6. Noooo! I just spent a fortune on fruitcake ingredients and yours are about 1,000 times nicer than anything I can get in Canada.
    Now, have you got the ultimate fruitcake recipe - mine was delicious (my late aunt's) but not what everyone was expecting.
    Yay, so I didn't just dream up angelica, it really exists!

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  7. Hi Denise - I don't make fruitcakes that often, they do take a long time if you do it correctly it should have been done 6 months ago.
    I have used this mince and it does produce quite a luxurious fruitcake but in this household, mince tarts win because of the pastry!

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  8. I absolutely must try this, Haalo!
    It must be so perfumed and tasty!
    I never heard about candied Angelica, this is very interesting.
    I love the touch of Vecchia Romagna, the favorite Brandy of my Father.
    :-)
    baciusss
    brii

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