Holiday Ale (kit based) Recipe Help

Hi! First of all, thanks to everyone for a fantastic forum, which has taught me a lot about brewing! I'm still pretty new here and in homebrewing, though, and now I'm looking for some advice from you nice people!

Sometime this week I'll "brew" a holiday ale for christmas/winter. I don't have much space/equipment, so my best shot is a kit. A LHBS owner with a good reputation recommended Muntons Highland Heavy Ale as a good kit for adding spices, since it has a somewhat neutral taste.

The kit says to boil a certain amont of water, mix with kit and add cold water to top off. The instructions make a big point of not boiling the kit contents itself (liquid malt&hop extract), since that has been boiled enough already.

My plan is to boil that water, but add some LME (0,5 - 1 kg) (to boost alcohol a little above the expected 4,5% and add some more body), add some (1 oz??) cascade hop pellets (4,5 % alpha acid) to get more hop & citrusy flavor, add spices (1 cinnamon stick, about 1 oz sweet orange peel, some cloves and cardamom). Then mix this "tea" with the kit and the top off water. From what I've read, the spices should be added at 5 min before boiling stops.

My goal is a holiday ale with subtle aromas of citrus, orange and the mentioned spices. A little sweetness doesn't hurt. I don't want the spices and hops to be overwhelming, buit still easily noticeable. The kit makes 5 gallons, I think (I'm from Norway and we don't use gallons/ounces here).

Now, my questions.
Mainly: Could this work? How long should the hops boil? And how much hops should I use? Suggestions for the amount of the spices?

And oh, I'm planning to use Wyeast 1450 Denny's Fave yeast. (And I plan to reuse it later for a larger beer.)

Anyone able to help? Thanks a million!!

This is one of the reasons I don’t like pre-hopped extracts, it takes away your control over what you are brewing. In the future I’d highly recommend buying light-unhopped extract and adding your own steeping grains and hops to get the character you want.

You could just add the hops to the water along with the extract, which will do a fine job extracting some aromatics. Alternatively, you could boil the extra extract you are adding along with the water and hops if you want to add more bitterness to the kit.

For spices when I want to actually taste them, I’ve had the best luck adding them as a tea (steeped in hot water for about 5 minutes, then strained) right to the bottling bucket. That way you can keep adding it until the spice flavor is where you want it. Sounds like a nice blend of spices.

Good luck.

Yeah, I know. I'll probably stop using kits in the near future, but right now it's my easiest option due to space and equipment restrains. I'll be looking into partial-boil extract brewing with unhopped extract.

Anyhow, thanks for the tips! I think I'll just do this batch the way I've planned and see what happens. Worst case, I learn a lesson

FWIW: The kit has these specifications, for brewers who want "make constructive changes":
Colour: 50-60 EBC
Bitterness: 45 - 55 EBU
Solids (by refractometer): 80 - 82 %
Acidity (as lactic): 1 % max
pH: 5.5 max
Free Amino Nitrogen: 0,15 % min.

I can't find any info on malt/hop types/amounts.