WMD mincemeat

I made some mincemeat, using a recipe off the 'net, attributed to Mary Berry...

All recipes looked different, and the sainted Delia's recipe didn't seem to have enough alcohol...only 3 tablespoons...the supposedly MB recipe I found had 200ml.  That's a third of a pint.  I had to rummage on the top shelf under the stairs to find enough booze in one bottle, as our purely medicinal calvados is down to a thimbleful and the brandy from That Supermarket is reserved for the cake.  Some dodgy rum from a French supermarket should do the trick...

As soon as I poured it in, I knew we were in trouble....just one teaspoon of the mix to "test" and I had my wobbly boots on...and the experimental baked apple with mincemeat stuffing made for a distinctly drowsy evening semi-comatose on the sofa.

Hopefully if we keep it at the back of the cupboard it won't spontaneously combust and will mellow nicely ready for next year.  I will have to try again, and yes, will probably use the Delia recipe along with the rest of the English-speaking mincemeat-making world.

Much more successful was a new ginger cake recipe found here. 

Don't pay any attention to what it says about rubbing in the butter - just melt it in the pan with the sugar and syrup and milk, then pour it all into the dry stuff.  And when you add the egg, mix it all up quickly - I was afraid it would scramble.  The only fiddly bit of the recipe is chopping the stem ginger. 

 Definitely the easiest ginger cake ever made, only one egg required leaving lots of eggs available for more cakes, and very delicious with custard: the Girl was deeply chuffed - spag bol for tea, followed by cake and custard.  Apart from an imminent piano exam clouding the horizon, it doesn't get any better than that.