As the nights turn colder, we start craving warm, comforting foods and drinks- hot lava cake, warm apple pie, cider, hot cocoa, and mulled wine. Mulled wine is a classic, hot spiced wine made around the holidays (or anytime someone needs something warm and comforting). It is commonly served in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Brazil- pretty much all around the world. Each country puts its own spin on the wine, but the basic ingredients are wine; spices such as cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon; sugar of some sort; and citrus.
Even in Houston, where a winter day can easily reach 80 degrees, we enjoy many of the winter classics and I recently made some mulled wine and curled up with it on the couch to do some reading. Since the “recipe” is so general, I read over a few, checked my pantry and got to work.
Here’s what I used:
1 bottle of cabernet sauvignon
1 orange
1 lemon
3 cinnamon sticks
¼ cup of granulated sugar
Dash of ground cloves
Once all the ingredients were in the pan, I brought the liquid to a boil and then simmered it for 15 minutes. That’s really all there is to it! It’s so simple you can easily make it when you want to throw on a pair of fuzzy socks and curl up with a good book, or when friends come over for an impromptu gathering!
Are you a mulled wine fan? What’s your favorite version?
