I always start the festive season by making homemade Gingerbread Mix Spice. The preparation takes only a few minutes, and all I have to do is mix all ingredients. The Gingerbread Mix Spice is a blend of seasonal spices: cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg. You can make the spice mix milder by cutting the ginger amount or adding more if you need an extra punch. The Gingerbread Mix Spice is very aromatic, fresh, warming and great for gingerbread of all kinds and muffins. It should be kept in an airtight container. Find the recipe here…

Dried Fruits Beverage is one of 12 traditional dishes served on Christmas Eve in Poland. This is a naturally sweet drink, which distinctive flavour comes from dried apples, pears, apricot, prunes and fragrant spices: cinnamon, cloves and star anise. Dried fruits, prunes, in particular, give the kompot enough natural sweetness; however, if you need to have it sweeter, add honey to the cool mixture. My Dried Fruit Beverage also contains thick slices of fresh orange, making this traditional drink even more Christmasy and citrusy. Serve cold with cooked fruits on the side. Find the recipe here...

Ice cream is not strictly for summer and just because it’s cold and dark outside, doesn’t mean you don’t want to enjoy this frosty treat. Cinnamon Ice Cream is a perfect partner for Apple Pie, a baked apple or any apple desserts commonly eaten in the wintertime. I used the cinnamon sticks to infuse the milk because they give the ice cream full and more complex flavour. The sticks were left in the cold custard overnight and removed just before the process. Cinnamon Ice Cream is delicious and smells insane. Find the recipe here….

Mincemeat needs at least two weeks to macerate before using in mince pies. Dried fruits, almonds, spices and orange zest have enough time to soak beautifully in sherry, and their flavours become rich and complex. Although I’m not entirely against store-bought mincemeat as you can buy a very good one, but when is homemade its taste is completely different. Homemade mince meat is easy and quick. Cooking takes only 10 minutes, dried fruits, almonds are available at grocery stores, and you can control the amount of sugar which may be important. The homemade mincemeat can be made up to six months in advance. Find the recipe here….

This cranberry sauce is sweet and tart, packed with festive flavours - orange, cinnamon and ginger. It's a perfect condiment or a side dish served with cheese, meat such as chicken, goose, duck. It's also a must to top off Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner. The cranberry sauce is very easy to cook at home and can be made of frozen or fresh fruits however, cranberries are in season so can be easily found at grocery shops at the moment. I prefer my sauce smooth which is actually a cranberry relish. Find the recipe here...

I've chosen Picota cherries to make this delicious sauce. They are sweet, firm and have the unique flavour that comes from their stones and easily blends with red dry wine and spices – cinnamon, clove and lemon grass. The sauce is reasonably sweet but very aromatic and the combination of these ingredients makes it very elegant.  It’s great served with chocolate cakes and panna cotta, perfect as a topping over cream or vanilla homemade ice cream, for any fancy dessert you may think of.  One of my favourite things to make with Picota cherries lately. Find the recipe here…

When this cake appears in our tea-time menu it means we have just started to think about Christmas. The ginger cake smells of cinnamon and cloves which are very Christmassy, is deliciously sweet, very rich moist and sticky. Ginger – fresh and ground - makes the cake a bit spicy and warms up beautifully. The cake is great freshly baked and even better after a few days if you manage to save some. Let it cool completely before you serve it, sprinkle with the icing sugar. Find the recipe here…

We all love apple muffins for a number of reasons. They are quick and easy to make, delicious both straight from the oven and after two days. Great for breakfast, an afternoon tea time and when you have a sweet tooth. The muffins can be made with any apples you can found in a store, however Golden Delicious, Granny Smith or Bramley Apples make them exceptionally delightful and flavoursome. My Apple Muffins are full cinnamon, ginger, walnuts and apple pieces thus they are moist, fragrant and fresh for a few days after baking. Find the recipe here…