members recipes

This makes a lovely Christmas gift for foodie friends. Just pack it into little jars, tins or small glass tubes or use larger jars, layering it with a plain white sugar for a pretty effect :) You could add it to black tea, hot fruit tee, hot wine, or sprinkle it onto cupcakes,cookies or pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup of water
Finely grated zest of 1 large, organic orange
Finely grated zest of 1 organic lemon
Finely grated zest of 1 organic clementine
2 cloves
2 small, allspice berries
1 whole vanilla pod, split open (keep the pod)
1 small pinch of star anise
1 level tsp of cinnamon
Some red or dark orange food colouring (just a couple of drops)

Method
1. Place all of the ingredients (including the vanilla pod) in a small heavy based saucepan.
2. Place over a medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer gently for approx 15-20 mins (watch it doesn\'t burn)
3. Remove from the heat and pour onto a baking parchment lined baking tray or similar. Remove the vanilla pod straight away then allow the mixture to cool down completely. It needs to be completely solid and cold before going onto the next stage.
4. Break the mixture into chunks then place in a food processor or strong blender.
5. Blend using the pulse button till you get the required consistency. You want to try and get a nice mix of fine sugar and slightly larger \'crumbs\'.
6. Spread the mixture out on some parchment paper and leave to dry out for a few hours before packing into jars.