Catching Up!

With the glut of apples at the moment, am giving a recipe for a vegetarian mincemeat that uses no suet. This may have been given before, but make no apologies as it can be made up to six months in advance, so worth making now ready for Christmas. Although no mention of adding brandy was in the recipe, don't see why a spoonful wouldn't give added flavour. Perhaps a spoonful poured over the top of the mincemeat when in the jar might help it 'keep' and eventually soak through the rest. Any excuse to add booze.
Vegetarian Mincemeat: makes approx 4 lbs
2 lb (1kg) cooking apples
2 oz (50g) flaked almonds
4 oz (100g) glace cherries
grated zest and juice of one lemon (or orange)
8 oz (225g) Muscavado (or Barbados) sugar
half pint (300ml) apple juice
1 lb (450g) mixed dried fruit
half teaspoon each ground allspice and gr. cloves
Peel and core the apples, and roughly chop. Chop the almonds and cherries together. Put the sugar into a pan with the apple juice and heat slowly until the sugar has dissolved, then add the apples and simmer until they have broken down into a puree. Mix in the remaining ingredients, then when fully combined, bring to the boil, stirring continuously, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for half an hour until everything is soft and there is no visible apple. Pot up into hot sterilised jars, seal while still very warm and store in a cool dark place for up to 6 months.