Fresh, fruity, spicy and hot, Spicy Hot Apple Cider is a wonderful party drink; enjoy the flavours of Christmas, quench your thirst and have a blast, all at the same time!
Sufficient for 2 litres of cider
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat the oven to Fan Oven 90°C/110°C/230°F/Gas ½.
First you need to dry the orange and lemon slices – cut the orange and lemon into slices, roughly ¾ cm thick.
Lay on racks on baking trays and cook in a very cool oven for a few hours until dried through. The length of time it takes will depend on how thick you cut the slices – it can take up to 6 hours. Turn the slices over a couple of times whilst they cook.
Roughly chop the dried orange and lemon slices, transfer to a food processor. Blitz until finely chopped.
Lay the cinnamon, allspice and cloves on a chopping board and cover with cling film. Bash with a meat tenderiser or a rolling pin to break up the spices.
Carefully remove the cling film, removing any spices that have stuck to it.
Transfer to the food processor and blitz until everything is finely chopped. Tip out of the processor into a mixing bowl.
Finely chop the ginger and mix with the remaining spices and fruit. You can do this by hand or in the food processor but, pulse very carefully, or it will become thick and sticky.
This recipe makes around 60g of spice mix. I make 30g bags for 1 litre of cider and 15g bags for 500ml of cider.
Weigh your weighed spice mix into the centre of a muslin square big enough to encase the spice mix and tie tightly with string.
Your spice bags are now ready to use. If you are not using them immediately, I add a layer of cellophane and tie this tightly around the muslin. This helps keep the spices fresh but it is important to remove the cellophane before making the Spicy Hot Apple Cider.
Remove the cellophane from the Spice Bags, if necessary
Place in a saucepan with the cider. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 – 15 minutes until the flavours have infused.
Taste and add some sugar or honey, if necessary.
Serve in heat proof glasses with your choice of serving options. If you want to add any extra punch e.g. brandy or eau de vie, pour this directly into the serving glass with the hot wine.
Equipment:
For the spice mix –
For the Spicy Hot Apple Cider
Make it punchy!
If you like, you can even add a shot of cognac, brandy, rum or an eau de vie (fruit brandy).
You can also use this spice mix to make Mulled Wine – use one 30g bag per 700ml bottle of wine.
What is the best cider to use?
Inexpensive cider is perfect for this recipe; heating the cider dulls the flavour, plus you are introducing a whole new range of flavours which will dominate any nuances you often pay extra for!
What is the best way top keep Spicy Hot Apple Cider warm?
If you are making this for a party and want to keep it warm for a long period of time, without spoiling the flavour and cooking off the alcohol, keep it in a slow cooker. Either infuse on the hob and transfer to the slow cooker, on low, when ready, OR simply put the cider and spice bags directly in the slow cooker. Heat on high and then turn down to low when ready. The time it takes to heat up will depend on how much cider you are heating.