Mincemeat Cake

What is it?

Mincemeat pie is a British dessert filled with raisins, currants, candied peel, apples and brown sugar. It is normally cooked together with suet. If you are unfamiliar suet is a hard animal fat either beef or lamb. I’m not certain where to get Suet in the states so I used vegetable shortening. The pie has an origin that dates back to the 1400’s when the pie actually had mincemeat in it. It was a way to preserve meat without having to go through the usually methods of drying and curing.

Today Mincemeat Pie doesn’t have meat in it anymore. It is a spiced fruit pie served during Christmas time. I didn’t want to make pastry so I didn’t end up making pie. I made a simple square cake that made my whole house smell like Christmas.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups All purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 tbsp. pumpkin spice
  • 3 tbsp. melted butter
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs beaten

Mincemeat Mixture

  • 1 apple diced
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/3 cup candied mixed peel
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. pumpkin spice
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Directions

  1. In a saucepan on medium heat place all your mincemeat mixture and cook until the apples have softened and the shortening and brown sugar melt together. Lower the heat and simmer while putting the rest of your batter together.
  2. Preheat your own to 370 degrees.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl whisk your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, pumpkin spice.
  4. Melt your butter in the microwave for a minute.
  5. Put oil and butter into the dry ingredients.
  6. In a small bowl beat the two eggs together and add to rest of your batter.
  7. Add your warm mincemeat mixture and whisk until the batter is well combined.
  8. Put batter in a 8×8 square cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until a knife comes out clean.

Crisper Drawer Spice Cake

So the other day I did a recipe lab for my Beef Ragout, and I had left over carrots and parsnips in my crisper drawer. Unlike lumiere I was not trying to feed a whole castle instead just 3 teensy weensy people, but Walmart won’t sell you these particular root vegetables individually.

Cut to last night as I’m standing in my kitchen craving carrot cake and thought…

“Why not put parsnips in it too?”

This sparked the best cake I think I’ve baked so far…Crisper Drawer Spice Cake.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger
  • 2 tbsp. pumpkin spice seasoning
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups mixed carrot/parsnip, grated (I used two parsnips and one carrot)

Directions

  1. Add all your dry ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer or a medium size mixing bowl. Mix on low setting to combine.
  2. Add oil, eggs and root veg mixture and stir until well combined.
  3. Place in a bread pan in a 350 degree oven for one hour.