It’s a very special week here on Spicy Icecream and I’ve got a lot in store for you, lovely readers!

Oh my, time has flown since I decided to start this blog, but here we are… five years later. Five whole years! I seriously can’t believe it. I can hardly remember what I did on the weekends before I started spending them baking and photograhing. I’ve made some wonderful friends, shared so many wonderful meals, and so to celebrate, this week I’ll be posting five spiced up recipes over five days.

Warm spice recipes in the dead of winter is the perfect combination and I’ve had a lot of fun putting this series together. Even though it feels like I have barely any time in the kitchen these days, I still love the whole process of blogging – from coming up the recipe ideas (and often brainstorming them with other fab food bloggers) to making, photographing, writing about them, and then finally sharing them with you guys.

First up we have a seriously fabulous winter drink that I only discovered very recently at The Winery, but I couldn’t get enough! Mulled Cider is a great drink during cooler months, to warm you up from the inside out. Best yet, you can play around with the spices depending on your preference and even do a booze-free version with apple juice for the kids. I like cinnamon sticks, ginger, cloves and a teensy bit of vanilla in mine, but perhaps some peppercorns, nutmeg or even some bay leaves would be nice too!

And as an added bonus, it will also make your whole house smell seriously amazing, like Christmas. I think it would also be delicious with pear cider too. I’ll be back tomorrow with another spicy recipe. Stay tuned!

Spiced Mulled Cider
Serves 2-4

• 2 x 500ml bottles apple cider (I used Koppaberg)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 cloves
• 2 pieces orange peel, peeled with a vegetable peeler
• Small piece fresh ginger
• ½ vanilla bean
• 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste
• 2 shots dark or spiced rum, optional

Place all ingredients apart from rum in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Gently simmer for 15 minutes or until mixture is nice and warm and smells amazing. Remove from the heat and add the rum, if using. Strain out the spices, pour into glasses and serve warm.