Christmas Mulled Wine Muffins - cooking recipe

Ingredients

50 g dark chocolate, finely grated
150 g butter or margarine
150 g sugar + 3 tbsp
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 None medium eggs
250 g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
175 ml red wine
1/2 None cinnamon stick
2 None cloves
1 None star anise
1/2 None orange, sliced

Preparation

First, make the mulled wine. Pour the wine into a pan with the cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, 2 tbsp of sugar and the orange and heat gently to a simmer. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
To make the muffins, blend the butter and 3/4 cup of the sugar together with a fork until it is light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one by one. Stir in a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and the cinnamon. Next, sift the baking powder and the flour together. Pass the mulled wine through a strainer and measure 1/3 cup. Mix a little flour into the butter cream, then a dash of wine, then some grated chocolate and repeat until the ingredients are used up, keeping a little grated chocolate to one side for decoration. Line the holes of a 12-portion muffin pan with baking cup liners and pour in the muffin mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 350\u00b0F. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
To make the topping, whip the cream with 1 tbsp of sugar and the rest of the vanilla extract. Next, gently stir in the rest of the mulled red wine, bit by bit, ensuring that the cream does not become too liquid. Spread the cream over the top of the muffins, decorate with the cherries and grated chocolate and serve.