Mincemeat Filling (makes about 5 cups of filling):
1lbsapplesafter cored and peeled (about 5 medium apples)
1/2lbraisins
1/2lbsultanas
1/2lbcurrants
1/2lbsuetsee notes
1/2lbsugar
juice of 2 lemons
1/2nutmeg grated
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Pie Crust:
Sift flour and salt into a bowl.
With a pie cutter, cut in the shortening until the particles are pea sized.
Sprinkle in the water, 1 tsp or so at a time, mixing lightly with a fork. Donât over mix or the crust will be tough.
Press into a ball. It is okay if it is crumbly. In fact crumbly makes for a tender, flaky crust!
Separate the ball into 2 balls: one for the bottom crust and one for the top.
Lay out a piece of wax or parchment paper, lightly sprinkle it with flour, then roll out one of the crusts for the bottom of the pie. Then press the crust into a 9" pie plate.
Time to make the filling.
Mincemeat filling:
Put the apples, raisins, sultanas, currants and suet through a grinding machine, or food processor. If you are using a food processor, grind the mixture until it finely ground.
Stir in the sugar, lemon juice and nutmeg, as well as a few whole currants. Mix well.
Putting it all together:
Add the mincemeat mixture to the pie crust. You may have extra filling, so you can put it in a container to store in the fridge for later and make tarts with it, or warm it up and serve it over vanilla ice cream!
Using a new piece of parchment paper, roll out the other crust for the top of the pie. If you are using pie crust stamps, use the dough for the top crust to make them. For this pie, I just randomly laid out the snowflakes, trying to cover as much as the pie filling as possible. If you are laying on a top crust (instead of using pie stamps) just make sure to cut ventilation holes into the crust.
Bake the pie for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees (this will ensure that you don't end up with a soggy bottom crust).
Then after this time, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for about 35 - 45 minutes more. (Until the crust is lightly browned and the mincemeat mix is bubbling up from under the crust.)
Let the pie cool before serving...it's best served warm, but not hot.
Notes
You can find suet in the meat freezer section of your grocery store.