Best Talent Attainables Mincemeat Pie

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Place the salt pork in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer 3 minutes. Drain and finely dice the salt pork. Set aside.

2. Step 2

   Place the granulated sugar in a small saucepan set over medium heat. When the edges begin to bubble, stir with a fork until the sugar is completely melted. Scrape the melted sugar into a large pot. Add the salt pork, meat, broth, powdered sugar, raisins, prunes and cider. Bring the mixture to a boil, adjust the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and all the ingredients are well blended, about 30 minutes.

3. Step 3

   Remove the cubed meat from the pot, place in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Return the meat to the pot and cook an additional 15 minutes. Stir in the salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, mace, nutmeg and citron. Remove from heat and pour the brandy over the top. (Can be made to this point several days in advance and kept refrigerated.)

4. Step 4

   When ready to assemble the pies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir the apples into the mincemeat and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice.

5. Step 5

   Roll three of the disks of pastry dough out to disks 11 inches in diameter and ease them into three 9-inch pie pans. Divide the mincemeat among the pans. Roll the remaining dough out to disks 10 inches in diameter and cover the tops of the pies with them. Trim excess dough and pinch the edges of the top and bottom crusts together with your fingers to seal them. Use a paring knife to poke a few slits in the top of each crust.

6. Step 6

   Bake until filling is bubbling and crusts are lightly browned, 60 to 65 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.