No-suet Mincemeat

I made this yesterday, and it smells and tastes just like the traditional version. My whole house smelled like Christmas—on Halloween!

I tweaked a few things: used maraschino cherries instead of glacé cherries, added some homemade candied orange peel I made the day before, and added rather more than 6 tablespoons of brandy! I filled two gallon-size Zip-loc freezer bags to freeze until Thanksgiving.

(Note: for my American readers, please refer to a recipe converter in order to convert UK measurements to US: http://www.pastrywiz.com/conversion.htm 

Or just buy a good Escali scale so you can weigh things: http://www.escali.com/primo-best-selling-kitchen-scale

Hettie Potter’s suet-free mincemeat
(From Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess)

Makes about 2kg

Ingredients:
250g soft dark sugar
250ml medium dry cider
1 kg cooking apples, peeled, and grated
1 tsp. mixed spice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
250g currants
250g raisins
250g dried cranberries
75g glacé cherries, roughly chopped
75g blanched almonds, ground
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
½ cup candied orange peel*
6 tbsp brandy

Instructions:
In large saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the cider over a gentle heat. Add all the ingredients, except the brandy, and simmer until everything has a pulpy consistency, about 45 minutes. Take off the heat, and when it has cooled, gently stir in brandy.

*optional