1. Place the fruit, sugar, mixed spice, orange and lemon rind and juice, brandy and grated apple in an oven proof bowl and mix until combined.

2. Cover the bowl with foil and place in a preheated oven (170º/150º fan) for 2 hours, stirring halfway.

3. Remove and allow the mix to cool before transferring to a jar, or airtight container. Cover the top with a parchment disc before securing lid.

4. Take one sheet of filo pastry and cut into 3 strips. Brush with melted butter.

5. Take one tablespoon of the sweet mince mix and spread on one side in a long sausage, being careful not to go right to the top and bottom. Leave a small gap as this will be the cracker ends.

6. Taking one end of the pastry, start to roll the pastry lengthwise, continuing to brush with the melted butter, to create a rolled sausage shape.

7. Gently push in and twist each end to create a cracker, and brush all over with melted butter.

8. Place all the crackers onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake in a preheated oven (180º/170º fan) for around 15-20 minutes, or until a light golden brown and crispy.

9. Remove from the tray, Dust with icing sugar and serve with brandy butter or cream.

Tips...

• These can be made in advance and baked just before serving.
• You can snip the ends of the cracker with a pair of kitchen sissors and carefully seperate some of the layers for an even crispier effect.
• Colour your icing sugar to make different individual colours.
• Dust with edible silver glitter, or edible gold leaf for a high end finish.
• Stick edible holly shapes on top for a fun, festive look.
• Turn into mince pie dumplings by cutting your pastry into squares, adding the sweet mince in the center and twisting the top. Remember to brush with melted butter and use at least 2-3 squares of filo to strenghten the dumpling. Follow steps 8 and 9 to cook your mince pie parcels.
• Any used jam jars are great for storing your mince mix - just be sure to clean them out throughly. This can be done with white vinegar and hot water, or baking soda, rinsed with hot water and placed in a hot oven to completely deoderise and sanitise.
• Vegetable suet can be added to the mix if desired, 1 tbsp is sufficient for the quantity of ingredients used in the recipe above.