Scouts Mincemeat

I have always made Delia Smith's mincemeat, which takes 2 hours in the oven plus overnight steeping.

My 12 year old son was taught how to make a quicker version over a Scouts Zoom cookery lesson at the end of November. The speed of it won me over, although I would use vegetable fat to make a vegan version. Here it is, with a few little tweaks (nuts added at the beginning rather than the end, brandy added at the end rather than the beginning, and sugar heated to bubbling before turning off the gas rather than stirred into the cooling mixture).

Makes 3x 454g jars

650g mixed dried fruit
Zest & juice of 2 oranges

Zest & juice of 2 lemons

1 large (about 300g) cooking/firm apple

100g butter

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp mixed spice

50g flaked almonds

3tbsp brandy

175g sugar

Add all ingredients, apart from the brandy and the sugar, to a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat gently for about an hour stirring regularly until the dried fruit is nice and plump and the apple looks light brown.  If the pan starts to stick, add the brandy a tablespoon at a time.

After about an hour stir in the sugar and brandy and heat gently again until it starts to bubble. Turn off the heat and bottle in sterilised jars and with sterilised lids.  The mincemeat will keep for 3 weeks in the fridge.

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