Venison Mincemeat Pies
User Reviews
5
Venison Mincemeat Pies
Description
These Venison Mincemeat Pies feature a filling of ground venison mixed with dried lingonberries, blueberries, currants, brown sugar, and aromatic spices like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. The mixture is cooked slowly at a low temperature, allowing the fats to distribute evenly and the flavors to deepen. Incorporating grated apple and lemon juice balances richness with brightness. Brandy or Scotch adds warmth and complexity, traditionally soaked into the fruit ahead of cooking if time allows.
The dough, combining all-purpose flour, butter, bacon fat, egg, and cold water, is worked until crumbly then formed into a ball before rolling out. The pies are assembled in a muffin tin, brushed with egg wash, sprinkled with turbinado sugar for a crunchy topping, and baked until golden. The result is a small hand pie with a tender, flaky crust enveloping a moist, richly flavored mincemeat filling.
These pies serve well as a snack or dessert during colder months, with the meaty and fruity filling offering distinctive savory-sweet balance. The filling keeps refrigerated for weeks, making it convenient to prepare in advance. The dough recipe makes more than needed for a standard tart tin, suitable for multiple batches.
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 250 grams all-purpose flour about 2 cups
- salt pinch
- 100 grams unsalted butter diced
- 25 grams bacon fat (see below)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup water cold
MINCEMEAT FILLING
- 125 grams dried lingonberries about 4 ounces, or cranberries
- 125 grams dried blueberries about 4 ounces, or raisins
- 125 grams dried currants about 4 ounces, or other berries or dried chopped apricots
- 1 cup brandy or rum or Scotch
- 325 grams ground venison or other meat, about 12 ounces
- salt
- 1/2 cup lard or beef suet or butter
- 125 grams brown sugar about 1/2 cup
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or mace
- 1 apple peeled, cored and grated, baking type, such as granny smith
- lemon zest and juice
TO FINISH
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- turbinado sugar for dusting, or brown or demerara sugar
Instructions
FILLING
- Make the filling first. In a perfect world, you would soak the berries in the alcohol overnight. If you can do this, it's better. You then strain off the alcohol to use later. But you can skip this if you are short on time.
- Put all the filling ingredients except for the Scotch or brandy in a bowl and mix well. Put this in a lidded pot and cook at 225°F for 3 hours. Pull it out and stir well several times as it cools, which helps distribute the fat in the mix. When it's totally cool, add back the reserved alcohol. This mix can sit in a sterilized Mason jar for a month or so, or you can simply proceed with making pies.
DOUGH
- If you are doing this all at once, make the dough while the filling cooks. Mix the salt and flour, then cut the fats into it with a cutter or your fingertips until the mix looks like a coarse meal. This will take a little while.
- Mix in the egg and the ice water and work this dough into a nice ball. It's not totally necessary to be gentle with it like a regular pie dough because you want the crust on these to be a bit sturdy, so you can pick them up and eat them. Regardless, refrigerate for no less than 20 minutes, and up to a day.
MAKING PIES
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a mincemeat pie or muffin tin, then dust it with flour.
- Roll the dough out thin, to about 1/4 inch or even a little less. Depending on your tin, you will want to cut out one set of larger circles to fill the bottom of the tin, then another set of smaller ones for tops. You can also cut out stars with a cookies cutter to serve as tops. For my standard mincemeat pie tin, I use a 3-inch cutter for the bottom, a 2-inch for the top. Wine glasses or empty jars are good substitutes for a dedicated cutter.
- Beat the egg with the milk or cream to make an egg wash.
- Fill each tin with the bottom crust, then fill those with the filling. Paint the rim of a pie, set the top on, then crimp or pinch the edges all around to seal. Move on to the next pie.
- When they are all sealed, paint them all with the egg wash, then dust them all with the turbinado sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut a cross in the center of each pie. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until they are pretty and browned.
- Let them sit out of the oven in their tins for about 10 minutes, then move them to a rack to finish cooling. Eat warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Substitute 125 grams of butter alone for the mixed fats in the dough if preferred.
- The dough recipe yields enough for twelve pies in a muffin tin, more than needed for standard pie tins.
- The filling keeps refrigerated up to a month, allowing preparation of multiple batches for future baking.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 12servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 355 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 355kcal | 18% |
| Carbohydrates | 41g | 14% |
| Protein | 10g | 20% |
| Fat | 12g | 18% |
| Saturated Fat | 6g | 30% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 1g | 6% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 3g | 15% |
| Trans Fat | 0.3g | 15% |
| Cholesterol | 69mg | 23% |
| Sodium | 43mg | 2% |
| Potassium | 289mg | 6% |
| Fiber | 3g | 12% |
| Sugar | 20g | 40% |
| Vitamin A | 256IU | 5% |
| Vitamin C | 1mg | 1% |
| Calcium | 28mg | 3% |
| Iron | 2mg | 11% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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