Now I like mulled wine - done well its warming, flavoursome and a comforting drink when you are out in the cold or coming in from a walk through the woods. Done badly its a sickly bitter brew. So I have spent some time perfecting my own recipe (basing my research on the recipes of the older great cooks and shoot lodges).
One thing the experts confirmed early on is that boiling good red wine for any time ruins the flavour and drives off the alcohol. However they also confirmed that to infuse flavours well, a long hot boil is needed. My personal research also confirmed that when I most want a cup of mulled wine is when out and about or coming home to a log fire - not half an hour later.
The secret is to make a syrup with all the fruits and spices ready infused and to add this to warm (not boiling) wine. The joy of this is that the syrup both keeps well can can be combined with cold wine and carried "in the field". A gentle warming is then all thats needed for a first rate mulled wine - giving all the subtle flavours quickly and with minimum fuss. Keeping some at home offers the option of a fast preparation that will impress those unexpected winter visitors!
The recipe I show below is sufficient to make enough syrup to turn four bottles of decent red into the perfect "mulled wine". You can of course make more or less as you wish
You are going to need
Water
Raw cane sugar
An Orange
An (unwaxed) lemon
An (unwaxed) lime
Root ginger
Cinnamon sticks
Whole nutmeg
Allspice
Root ginger
2 apples
Cloves
Quality honey
Put half as much water as you plan to use wine in a pan - two wine bottles full in this case
Add 16 tablespoons of sugar (4 per bottle of wine)
Add a 2" stick of cinnamon (1/2" per bottle of wine)
Add half a grated nutmeg (good pinch per bottle)
Peel and grate 1" of root ginger (1/4" per bottle) and add that
Add a hefty pinch of allspice (I don't know how much per bottle - look, its not a precise science okay?)
Grate the zest of an orange (leaving the white pith behind) and add that
Repeat with a lemon (unwaxed)
And a lime......
Juice the orange (but not the lime and lemon) and add the juice - strain out any pips etc.
Stud a dessert apple with cloves and add it in whole
Roughly chop a second apple and add the chunks
Add four table spoons of honey (one per bottle)
Bring the pan to the boil and reduce to strong bubbling simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes remove the fruit with a slotted spoon
Bring the pan to a rolling boil. Keep boiling till the liquid is half the volume. It will become a "light syrup"
Strain the syrup through a jelly bag, seive and muslin or even a funnel and coffee filter
Bottle in sterilised bottles and seal firmly
To make mulled wine mix a bottle of good red wine with a quarter bottle of syrup
Heat till warm but not boiling and serve in mugs with a little orange zest and fresh nutmeg
If out and about - mix the wine and syrup cold and warm just before drinking
Skaal
Red
One thing the experts confirmed early on is that boiling good red wine for any time ruins the flavour and drives off the alcohol. However they also confirmed that to infuse flavours well, a long hot boil is needed. My personal research also confirmed that when I most want a cup of mulled wine is when out and about or coming home to a log fire - not half an hour later.
The secret is to make a syrup with all the fruits and spices ready infused and to add this to warm (not boiling) wine. The joy of this is that the syrup both keeps well can can be combined with cold wine and carried "in the field". A gentle warming is then all thats needed for a first rate mulled wine - giving all the subtle flavours quickly and with minimum fuss. Keeping some at home offers the option of a fast preparation that will impress those unexpected winter visitors!
The recipe I show below is sufficient to make enough syrup to turn four bottles of decent red into the perfect "mulled wine". You can of course make more or less as you wish
You are going to need
Water
Raw cane sugar
An Orange
An (unwaxed) lemon
An (unwaxed) lime
Root ginger
Cinnamon sticks
Whole nutmeg
Allspice
Root ginger
2 apples
Cloves
Quality honey
Put half as much water as you plan to use wine in a pan - two wine bottles full in this case
Add 16 tablespoons of sugar (4 per bottle of wine)
Add a 2" stick of cinnamon (1/2" per bottle of wine)
Add half a grated nutmeg (good pinch per bottle)
Peel and grate 1" of root ginger (1/4" per bottle) and add that
Add a hefty pinch of allspice (I don't know how much per bottle - look, its not a precise science okay?)
Grate the zest of an orange (leaving the white pith behind) and add that
Repeat with a lemon (unwaxed)
And a lime......
Juice the orange (but not the lime and lemon) and add the juice - strain out any pips etc.
Stud a dessert apple with cloves and add it in whole
Roughly chop a second apple and add the chunks
Add four table spoons of honey (one per bottle)
Bring the pan to the boil and reduce to strong bubbling simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes remove the fruit with a slotted spoon
Bring the pan to a rolling boil. Keep boiling till the liquid is half the volume. It will become a "light syrup"
Strain the syrup through a jelly bag, seive and muslin or even a funnel and coffee filter
Bottle in sterilised bottles and seal firmly
To make mulled wine mix a bottle of good red wine with a quarter bottle of syrup
Heat till warm but not boiling and serve in mugs with a little orange zest and fresh nutmeg
If out and about - mix the wine and syrup cold and warm just before drinking
Skaal
Red
