Christmas craft ideas!
One of the things we always do at this time of year is fill the house with the evocative aroma of mulled wine! You can always make a mulled apple juice as an alcohol free alternative.
This mulled wine is more extravagant than most, it is the Scandinavian-style Glögg version which has a good bit of help from various spirits! We love this one adapted from Diana Henry’s recipe. Please adapt to your liking.
Important! Before you start to mull, bake, wrap or craft – find a great Christmas playlist! Here is a link to ours at Bill Baber Knitwear: https://open.spotify.com/
Serves 8
- 2 bottles of fruity, not your best but drinkable, red wine.
- 200g Caster sugar
- 8 Cloves (go easy on the cloves)
- 8 Crushed Cardamom pods
- 1 stick Cinnamon
- 73g Raisins
- Peel of one Orange
- 20g Flaked Almonds
- 250ml Madeira or Marsala
- A slosh of Cointreau or other orange liqueur
For mulled Apple (fun to make with kids!) we follow the recipe swapping wine for cloudy apple juice, no sugar (or spirits)and just a splash of orange juice.
Method
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Put the wine into a large saucepan with the sugar. Gently heat, stirring carefully.
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Add the spices and orange peel ( option to use a muslin bag) along with all other ingredients. Simmer for 10 – 15 min without letting it boil.
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Serve in a glass with small spoons so that people can scoop out the almonds and boozy raisins.
It is of course best accompanied by the traditional Scottish Dundee cake, here is a link to a recipe – https://www.deliciousmagazine.
As we are all spending a lot more time inside this year while most of the UK is in lockdown, baking and craft have become some of our favourite evening activities, something the whole family can enjoy together, or via zoom!
We love making origami Christmas decorations for the shop and our tree. Here are the instructions for a beautiful spitzer stern star – why not give it a go using any scraps of Christmas wrapping paper you have around the house!