Mulled wine cake

Ingredients 250g butter, 250g plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 250g icing sugar, 4 eggs, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 3/4 cups red wine, 1/4 cup stem ginger, 2 tsp allspice, 2 tsp ground ginger, 3 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 150g marscapone, juice and zest of 1 orange

Serves: 10 Preparation: 1 hour

The lovely and fabulous @tiger_tea and I were recently discussing alternatives to Christmas fruit cake this week. Quite frankly, I love a nice slice of fruit cake at Christmas, especially with a slice of cheddar on the top (oh come on, you know by now that for me, cheese goes with everything!) but as not everyone likes it, I present this magnificent alternative. After all, what is more Christmassy than mulled wine? Booze, spice, citrus, warmth. OH MY LORD! GET IN MY BELLY! This cake is rich and dark with a layer of creamy orange marscapone in the centre.

1) Sift together the dry ingredients and chop the crystallised ginger.

2) Cream the butter and sugar together, and then whisk in the eggs, wine and orange zest.

3) Beat in the dry ingredients and the ginger bit by bit.

4) Pour into two cake tins and bake for 40 minutes at 175 degrees, until a skewer comes out clean. Set aside to cool. Your house will smell incredible. You're welcome.

5) Whip together the orange juice and marscapone and sweeten to taste with a little sugar. Leave to firm in the fridge at the cake cools, then use to sandwich the two halves together.

6) Dust the surface of the cake with a little cinnamon, cocoa powder and icing sugar mixture.

Honey & ginger yoghurt tart

Ingredients 12 ginger biscuits, butter, crystallised stem ginger, 2 eggs, Rachel's organic Greek honey yoghurt

Serves: 6 Preparation: 45 minutes


1) Crush the ginger biscuits in a mortar and pestle, blender or by putting them in a freezer bag and bashing them with a rolling pin. Stir in 2 tablespoons of melted butter and press into tart cases. Put in the fridge to cool.


2) Whisk 2 eggs and whisk 1 pot of Rachel's Organic Greek honey yoghurt into the eggs. Pour into the tart cases and top with a few cubes of crystallised ginger.


3) Bake for 30 minutes and serve once cool.

Wensleydale & stem ginger dip

Ingredients Wensleydale, cream cheese, stem ginger.

1) Grate Wensleydale into 2 tablespoons of cream cheese and whisk on a low heat. Stir through the pieces of stem ginger and set aside to cool.


Ideal served with steamed vegetables for dipping.