We asked Stuart and Marc from The Kitchen Table at the Seven Dials for a Christmas contribution and they came up with this simple recipe with many uses to bring the warm aromas of Christmas into your home.
1 cinnamon stick (broken into pieces) 1/4 teaspoon of cloves
1/2 teaspoon of allspice berries 1 star anise
1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
200g caster sugar
- Toast the whole spices in a dry pan for around a minute. Allow to cool.
- Once cooled, add the nutmeg, ginger and caster sugar.
- Place everything into a food processor (or better still, a spice mill or coffee grinder) and blitz to a fine powder.
Here are some examples of how to use your Christmas spice mix.
- Add to mulled wine or cider, or warmed apple or cranberry juice for a non-alcoholic alternative
- As a replacement for plain sugar in biscuit or cake recipes
- Add to fruit fillings for pies and tarts
- In a drink of honey and lemon (and possibly brandy) when feeling under the weather
- In slow braised lamb and beef dishes
- Stirred through your red cabbage for Christmas lunch
- Mixed with honey to glaze carrots, parsnips, duck or ham
- In your night-time hot chocolate or a glass of warmed milk
Happy Christmas!
A box of crackers from The Whistler archives
Q: What do you get if you cross a Kangaroo with a sheep?
A: A woolly jumper
Q: What do you get if you cross a poodle with a cockerel?
A: A Cockerpoodledo
Q: What’s a horse’s favourite TV programme?
A: Neigh-bours
Q: Why do bees hum?
A: Because they don’t know the words
Q: Why did the one-handed man cross the road?
A: To get to the second hand shop
Q: What does Dracula take when he has a cough?
A: Coffin pills
Q: What is the best thing to put into a pie?
A: Your teeth
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