Recipe for Mulled Red Wine

JUST before the festive season, we make up lots of little packages with sugar, spices and thinly-pared lemon rind so when the pals arrive it’s just a question of opening a bottle of wine and warming it with the spices in a stainless steel saucepan.

For a lovely present, you could attach a little pack of the spices to a nice bottle of red wine, with instructions. Leftover mulled wine keeps for a few days and reheats perfectly.

Serves 8 approx

1 bottle of good red wine

100-110g (3½-4oz) sugar, depending on the wine

Thinly pared rind of 1 lemon

1 small piece of cinnamon bark

1 blade of mace

1 clove

Put the sugar into a stainless steel or cast-iron saucepan. Pour the wine over, add the lemon rind, cinnamon bark, mace and the clove. Heat slowly, stirring to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Serve hot but not scalding, otherwise your guests will have difficulty holding their glasses.