A glass of mulled wine can be a real treat at Christmas time as its warm, spiced flavours go down wonderfully at any party or event.

There's nothing like walking around the Christmas markets with a mulled wine in a cup, but this can get expensive, especially if you are treating more than one person.

Thanks to Mary Berry, we have a recipe to make your own mulled wine at home - and it only takes a few ingredients and little elbow grease to do so.

So, reporter Abbie Meehan put the baking guru's expertise to the test, and tried out the mulled wine for herself - and boy, was she surprised.

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Mary Berry's Christmas mulled wine recipe

Earlier on in the month, I was scrolling for some tasty drinks and Mary Berry's mulled wine recipe came across my feed, and I was inspired to try it out for myself - I mean, what could go wrong?

I'm not actually a huge fan of spiced drinks, as I prefer to enjoy just a pint of beer or tasty cocktail - but I thought I'd push myself out of my comfort zone.

I was surprised to realise that the recipe only calls for two spices and two fruits, plus some sugar. This made it a really easy shopping trip and I got back with my £4 bottle of Malbec ready to give it a go.

I halved the recipe as I was only making this for myself and didn't require a large batch, so I used:

• Two lemons
• One large orange
• One bottle of red wine
• Pint of water
• Eight cloves
• One cinnamon stick
• 75g caster sugar

The recipe is as follows:

• Peel the zest very thinly from the lemons and orange, and squeeze the juice. Thinly slice the remaining orange and lemon. Quarter the slices, put on a plate, cover and reserve for garnish.

• Pour the wine, citrus peel and juices into a large pan, add the cloves and cinnamon stick. Bring to simmering point, cover and keep at simmering for about an hour. Stir in sugar to taste.

• Strain and serve hot with the reserved orange and lemon slices floating on the top.

I followed the recipe as it is above, and sat and waited for the wine and spices and fruit to simmer for an hour before I could taste it. There was a lot of anticipation, as the mixture was making the kitchen smell absolutely heavenly, and like a real Christmas delight.

Once the hour mark was up, I strained off the liquid and poured it into a glass and voila - I had my very own mulled wine for a budget price.

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Taste

My first taste of this beverage was an extremely surprising one. Mulled wines I had consumed in the past were just extremely watered down red wine and a lemon floating around in it compared to this.

There was a definite heat in my chest from the wine, with the spices and citrus mixing well to open up my airways and make me feel truly cosy.

The addition of the fruit was something I didn't think mattered, but it give the drink a completely different flavour profile to the wine I had drank beforehand to taste it.

The sugar complimented the rich taste of the wine perfectly, and I was super surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it.

Even my parents got in on the act, and my dad was also pleasantly surprised at the taste of it. At the time of writing, my mum has stolen the rest of the mulled wine I had left over and is sipping it happily.

Ease of the recipe

It was extremely simple and easy to follow this recipe - there were literally seven ingredients if you count the water, and it only took an hour to make.

I would recommend anyone who is having guests over to their house this festive season to give this drink a go - it is a born winner and can be especially comforting during these cold evenings.

Check out the recipe on Mary's website here.

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