One of the best things about dark cold winter evenings is the excitement of Christmas approaching as the lights start to go up. For us, warming our hands on aromatic mulled wine is the sensory experience that epitomises that feeling. We seem to have some unwritten rules about mulled wine; we never drink mulled wine on Christmas Day, but drink plenty of it in the run up to Christmas - never after, unless we’re abroad. No matter when you have it, here’s our perfect recipe.
For around 4 servings:
1 bottle of fruity red wine (unoaked) – try something like Zinfandel (or Primitivo), or Grenache
4 shots of an alcohol of your choice – brandy is classic, ginger wine is very Christmassy, and Cointreau gives a lovely orangey note. Feel free to mix and match to your tastes!
75g of caster sugar (although replacing part of it with honey is rather nice)
Half an orange, studded with about 5 cloves
Peel from half an unwaxed lemon
4 or 5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 cinnamon stick
Freshly grated nutmeg (about an eight of a nutmeg)
Method:
1. Squeeze the juice from the half orange into a pan, adding the studded peel in there too, along with the lemon peel, sugar (or honey) and spices.
2. Add about a glass of the wine and boil, stirring, for about 5 minutes until you have a thick syrup which will be the base of your mulled wine (you can make larger batches of this, to cool and store for quick mulled wine later on).
3. Turn the heat down to low and add the rest of your wine and additional alcohol. Gently warm through, stirring occasionally. It’s ready to serve! We love using glass latte glasses.
Here's one of Fleurie's favourite photos of Anika & Alfie - enjoying a glass of mulled wine!
Stay salty af,
Anika & Fleurie
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