Granini's Mincemeat Pie with Hot Buttered Rum Sauce

Granini's Mincemeat Pie

with Hot Buttered Rum Sauce

This is my 82 year old father in law's favorite pie. He has many memories of enjoying this pie with his mother, and says that his grandmother enjoyed it as well. I asked his brothers if they have fond memories of this pie too, but both of them scoffed, saying that no, they allowed their brother to enjoy the mincemeat pie instead. Personally, up until a few years ago, I thought mincemeat pie was a pie made out of minced meats. As in hams and livers and nasty leftover turkey carcass. I was pleasantly surprised that the meat refers to nut meats -- as in, the tasty part of a nut. And mincemeat is actually a pie made out of nuts and dried fruits all soaked in alcohol. My father in law prefers the pre-made jar of Mincemeat that one can find in most grocery stores and online.  You can buy it here. Buying the pie innards in a jar is much less time consuming and more budget friendly than buying everything separately, preparing the fruits and nuts, and then soaking them for a week or so in alcohol.

I prefer pies that are made from scratch, so I've added a few fresher ingredients to the jar of mincemeat to bring up the flavor a little bit. So here's my take on the traditional recipe, along with its accompanied hot buttered rum sauce.

I'll do my best to take pictures tomorrow so that I can update my blog pics accordingly.

Ingredients for the Pie:

1 pie crust, uncooked

1 jar of mincemeat (you can buy it here)
1 cup of fresh raisins, golden raisins, or dried fruits of your choice
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (toasted)
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 cup applesauce (I make mine from scratch, but a store bought jar works too)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cardamom
1 diced tart Granny Smith apple

Ingredients for the Hot Buttered Rum Sauce:

½ cup rum (preferably dark rum, but honestly, regular rum works just fine)

½ cup salted butter

⅓ cup sugar

⅓ cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoons orange zest

and the juice from that orange

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

and the juice of that lemon

½ teaspoon cardamom

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (just a dash, really)

Directions:

Roll the pie crust into your pie plate. 

In a large bowl, combine the mincemeat pie filling along with the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly to combine. Pour into prepared pie crust. Bake at 350º for 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is lightly brown. After removing the pie from the oven, allow the pie to cool slightly on a wire rack, and prepare the rum sauce.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add in the sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add in the remaining ingredients and bring up to a simmer. I have been told that some people like to catch the alcohol on fire in the kitchen, while others like to cook the sauce until the alcohol has evaporated. Others still like to pour the warm sauce into a dish and bring it to a flambé at the table when serving the pie. With all my relatives around, I like to keep my flames out of the kitchen and away from my guests, so I avoid the mini fire.

Serve the pie warm, and allow your guests to pour the warm hot buttered rum sauce over their own slices.

Enjoy!

Click here for more Thanksgiving Recipes

Or for more of my pie recipes

click here for The Week of Pie

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Find other tasty Thanksgiving Dinner dishes here:

And tasty pie recipes here:

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I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)