[Recipe] Christmas 2013: "Happy Holidays" Mulled Wine

I'm obsessed with Christmas music.  I listen to a ton of it immediately after (often during and slightly before) Thanksgiving and right through January.  

Few things remind me of Christmas so much as mulled wine.  Which is only funny because it had no place in my childhood or in any of my Christmases at all until a few short years ago.  But there's something so comforting and wonderful about the sweet, spicy aroma and the warmth spreading through your chest and down to your fingers and toes.

For my first attempt, I went with this amazing recipe, courtesy of Adeline & Lumiere.  I prefer my mulled wine sweet rather than dry, and the combination of fruits and fruit peels in this "appeeled" to me (I'm really into puns, #SorryImNotSorry).

"Happy Holidays" Mulled Wine
a recipe by Adeline & Lumiere


Ingredients
750 mL (1 standard bottle) red wine
150 grams sugar (castor, if possible)
1/2 cup orange juice
peel of one lemon
peel of one orange
1 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
5 cloves
1 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
pinch of ginger

Directions
1.  Place all ingredients except the wine into a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add just a small amount of red wine to the pan to ensure the sugar is covered and let cook for 4-5 minutes, until it becomes thick and sticky.
2.  Once the mixture has become sticky enough, add the rest of the wine and turn down the heat to simmer.  Be careful not to let the wine boil—the alcohol will evaporate.  Let cook for 5 minutes and serve hot with slices of fresh orange.

 

 

I wish I had thought enough in advance to take a pretty picture of the finished wine in our Christmas glasses, but I suppose this just gives me another excuse to make this.  It's still winter, after all, and everyone can use a little (holiday) cheer, no matter the month.