I was supposed to post this yesterday but I was overtaken by a horrible sickness bug – and no, it wasn’t because I drank too much of this yummy recipe whilst I was ‘testing’ it!
I was recently sent some lovely new designs by Hinchcliffe and Barber to review and I thought what better way to try out new mugs than by making a festive drink, which can be enjoyed by all at the endless parties at this time of year (and unlike mulled wine, you can easily omit the alcohol and sugar, which means it really can be enjoyed by all).
Hinchcliffe and Barber is a design partnership formed in 1980 by artists John Hinchcliffe and Wendy Barber. Working from their studio in rural Dorset, their home-ware collection is inspired by the wildlife and the countryside. I was sent mugs and a tea towel from the Songbird collection (I can just imagine that bird hopping around in their garden now!) and I love the beautiful, simple colour and bold design; their unfussy designs are rooted in craft skills such as potato prints, cut outs and block prints. I love to hear the story behind pieces as it always seems to make them that much more special. If you are still looking for Christmas pressies, do check out their home ware and gift collections as it’s so wonderful to be able to support British artists and independent businesses.
And so to the recipe that I made to try out my new mugs and tea towel. It is originally a Jamie Oliver recipe but I have tweaked it slightly. I chose this recipe because I don’t eat refined sugar so mulled wine isn’t great for that as you definitely can’t skip the sugar part. Also, this is a great recipe for parties when you need to offer a non-alcoholic option, as you can make the mulled pear and ginger and the rum is optional extra that can be added to individual cups – it doesn’t have to be cooked into the recipe, like mulled wine.
Ingredients:
1 litre Cloudy apple juice
1 Thumb-sized ginger piece, sliced
1 Ripe pear, sliced
4 Cinnamon sticks, plus extra to serve
1tsp Cardamom seeds (or four pods)
1 1/2 tbsp Light brown sugar (optional)
Juice of 2 limes, zest of 1
250 ml Bacardi Gold rum (optional)
Recipe:
Pour the apple juice into a saucepan, then add the ginger, pears, cinnamon, cardamom and sugar (optional). Add the zest and juice of the limes, bring everything to the boil and simmer until all of the sugar has dissolved. Serve warm in mugs, with a good shot of rum (optional) and a cinnamon stick.
It’s not the most beautiful drink, I have to say, but it really does taste delicious.
The Hinchcliffe and Barber mugs were perfect for this warm, festive drink.
How many Christmas parties have you been to so far or are you hosting your own? I’m definitely going to make this next week as I’m hosting a little festive get together with a few friends and the lovely Tia from A Crafty Alternative is coming to run a wreath making workshop with us – can you get more festive than that?
Katy x
Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Hinchcliffe and Barber but the views and opinions are my own.
Get well soon Katy… what a great recipe with beautiful photographs. G.
Thank you so much, Georgia! The mugs and tea towel are so beautiful x
What a beautiful design on those mugs and tea towel. Love the grey! The recipe sounds scrummy too 🙂
I love the bold design, too. The grey makes it even more effective, I think x