Food blogger Mary Sweeting gives us her idea of chocolate heaven.

Ahh winter. Home of hot water bottles, log fires and hot chocolate. If you're in need of a warming brew, this Mexican version gives you spice and chocolate in one. What's not to love?

I used raw cacao and coconut milk as the base here but if you can tolerate dairy then milk is good too. The chilli and cinnamon give it a spicy hit that'll be sure to warm your spirit until Spring.

Mexican hot chocolate 

(Makes 2 large hot chocolates) 

Ingredients:

2 mugs of pouring coconut milk (I use the Tesco free from one from the fresh aisles)

2 heaped tablespoons raw cacao powder (or you can use normal cocoa)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 dried red chilli or a sprinkle to your taste of red chilli flakes

2 tsp jaggery goor (unrefined sugar) or agave

1/2 tsp cornflour to thicken if desired

Method:

1. Warm all the ingredients in a small saucepan and whisk until the mixture has thickened with the cornflour.

2. Sprinkle with some grated dark chocolate.


Rhubarb and ginger crumble (gluten free)

This recipe makes the most of a crumble topping as it should be: crunchy, wholesome and delicious. The oats, nuts and seeds give texture and contrast to the syrupy rhubarb nectar, which baked this way seeps into the crumble mixture in the oven to make for some seriously comforting crunch.

For extra oomph if you’re not dairy free, try serving with crème fraiche flavoured with some stem ginger syrup.

Ingredients

For the filling:

Fresh rhubarb - as much as you want. You can use up leftovers on its own or serve as a side to the crumble.

Sugar to taste

½ cup cold water

1 small knuckle fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated.

For the topping:

150g gluten rolled oats

50g gluten free self raising flour

70g demerara sugar

75g mixed nuts and seeds (I used pecans, brazil and sunflower seeds)

3tbsp mild olive oil

50g salted butter.


Method:

1. Roughly chop and lightly stew the rhubarb with the water in a covered pan until soft. It usually takes about ten minutes on a medium – low heat. Add in the ginger and sugar to taste. Place enough of the mixture to fill one third of an ovenproof bowl that’s deep enough to add the crumble topping to.

2. In a separate bowl, rub in the butter and oil with the flour, oats and sugar. If using unsalted butter add in a pinch of salt.

3. Add in the nuts and seeds and mix thoroughly. Place on top of the rhurbarb mixture, even out the topping so it’s touching the sides of the bowl.

4. Bake in a medium oven for 15-20 minutes or until the topping is a pale golden brown.

Food writer Mary Sweeting blogs at therestoredkitchen.com