I’m always surprise that folk who would never dream of entertaining the thought of drinking anything less than “real” coffee, freshly ground and roasted, keep a stock of ready ground spices in their cupboards. What works for coffee and black pepper holds firm for any dry spice, once you can smell the aromatic oils they start to dissipate unless held by a medium such as oil, sugar or salt.

I’m about to start my Christmas baking so the first thing I’ll do is knock up a batch of richly scented and flavoured mixed spice, a use all spice at this time of year but one that probably hasn’t seen the light of day since Easter Simnel Cake andHot Cross Buns.

Once the spice is ground, store any extra in a screw topped jar for up to four weeks. I use my coffee grinder to whiz the spice fine, just remember to wipe it out well with a damp cloth!