Festive Spice Blend

make a big batch of this to welcome in the festive season and it goes in everything. I have used this in my Christmas fruitcake, to jazz up hot chocolate, in cookies, confectionary and breads. This makes around 75g of ground spice blend, so it should be enough to get you through the season.

I use whole spices as much as possible in my recipe because the end result is so much more fragrant than relying on pre-ground spices. The only powder I use is ginger and that is because there really is no replacement. Fresh ginger would make this into a paste, and dehydrating and grinding ginger is just not feasible.

WHAT YOU NEED

Scales

Spice/ Coffee Grinder

Sieve

Airtight container

INGREDIENTS

40g Cinnamon Sticks

10g Star Anise

10g Ground Ginger

2 Whole Nutmegs (roughly 10g)

5g Whole Cloves

5g Allspice berries

Cinnamon Sticks

Star Anise

Ground Ginger

Whole Nutmeg

Whole Cloves

Allspice Berries

1) Bash the nutmegs and cinnamon sticks with a rolling pin. This breaks them down a bit so that it is easier on the spice grinder.

2) In small batches, whizz the whole spices in the spice grinder. Do not overload it! The spices will release their aromatic oils when ground and the heat of the motor can scorch them if you are not careful.

3) When the spices have made a fine powder, sieve them into a bowl. This will remove the coarser bits.

4) Repeat the process until all of the whole spices have been ground and sieved. There will be a small amount of coarser ground spice remaining in the sieve. You can try to re-grind them into a fine powder, but I just keep them for different baking endeavours. For example, the coarsely ground spices are a brilliant addition to the topping of an apple crumble.

5) Sieve the ground ginger into the bowl. This will break up any clumps in the ginger and ensure that it incorporates with the other spices seamlessly. Whisk the finely ground spices together.

6) Keep your spice blend in an airtight container. I re-purposed an empty instant coffee tin. It will be at its best and freshest for about a month so take advantage of baking all the festive treats you can manage.