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1
Place the salt pork in a saucepan and cover with water.
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2
Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer 3 minutes.
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3
Drain and finely dice the salt pork.
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4
Set aside.
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5
Place the granulated sugar in a small saucepan set over medium heat.
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6
When the edges begin to bubble, stir with a fork until the sugar is completely melted.
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7
Scrape the melted sugar into a large pot.
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8
Add the salt pork, meat, broth, powdered sugar, raisins, prunes and cider.
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9
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.
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10
Remove the cubed meat from the pot, place in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
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11
Return the meat to the pot and cook an additional 15 minutes.
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12
Stir in the salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, mace, nutmeg and citron.
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13
Remove from heat and pour the brandy over the top.
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14
(Can be made to this point several days in advance and kept refrigerated.)
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15
When ready to assemble the pies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
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16
Stir the apples into the mincemeat and bring to a boil over high heat.
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17
Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
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18
Stir in lemon juice.
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19
Roll three of the disks of pastry dough out to disks 11 inches in diameter and ease them into three 9-inch pie pans.
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20
Divide the mincemeat among the pans.
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21
Roll the remaining dough out to disks 10 inches in diameter and cover the tops of the pies with them.
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22
Trim excess dough and pinch the edges of the top and bottom crusts together with your fingers to seal them.
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23
Use a paring knife to poke a few slits in the top of each crust.
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24
Bake until filling is bubbling and crusts are lightly browned, 60 to 65 minutes.
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25
Serve warm or chilled.
