Baking With Spirit: The Christmas Recipes Round Up

This month I thought I'd get into the Christmas spirit and let you all bake with whatever booze your heart desired. Eggnog seems to have been a popular choice, and why not? I made some eggnog of my own on Christmas day, courtesy of The Boys Club, and it was so tasty I'm definitely going to be including it in my annual Christmas food and drink. 

Now I know your stomachs are still probably groaning from everything you've ingested over the past week or so, but you may just have some Christmas tipple that needs using up, or perhaps you were gifted something alcoholic that you weren't sure what to do with? You may not believe me, but one day you will be hungry again, and when you are I bid you to take a look at the fantastic entries we've had this month...

Claire at Under The Blue Gum Tree made these gorgeous Eggnog & Dark Chocolate Muffins. I love how the icing has run off the slides slightly - it makes me salivate just to look at it! I've got plenty of eggnog leftovers so I may have to whip up a batch.

Heather of Heather's Bangles made some mince pies filled with boozy mincemeat. The mincemeat has a dose of brandy in it, which I think would deepen the flavour nicely. I really like the colourful cases around the mince pies - it adds a nice dash of colour, don't you think?

I made this Mint Chocolate Cake with Creme de Menthe flavoured icing. The whole thing tasted divine, and the added bite from the alcohol was very welcome. I urge you to give it a try if you're not already full to the brim with Christmas food at this point.

Caroline from Caroline Makes... made this lovely Stollen. She had a bit of trouble with the recipe as it seems it was a bit unclear in places, but you'd never have known - I'd be happy to receive this as a gift! Caroline used pear cider instead of rum, which I expect imparted quite a nice and subtle flavour to the mix.

Over at Bake It With Booze, Ellen and Jaqueline have made some fantastic looking Spiked Eggnog Cupcakes. Apparently they've even won over people who don't like eggnog, so you know they must be good!

The talented Anne from Uni Homemaker made these Cranraisin Eggnog Muffins. Not only are they filled with brandy-soaked raisins and cranberries and eggnog, they are also topped with a crumb topping. I love a good crumb topping as it reminds me of fruit crumbles. I think these would make a great Christmas breakfast.

Finally, on Boxing Day I made this Mulled Red Wine Velvet Cake. The spices from the mulled wine come through nicely, and the cake is incredibly moist. The cake is also low fat and low sugar - perfect for new year diets.

Look out for the next challenge, which I'll be posting on Tuesday. Have a very happy new year's eve!