«« Back to Christmas Drinks «
Back to St Nicholas' Day Customs There
are versions of mulled wine recipes in use all over Europe - in Germany
it is Gluwein, in Sweden it is Glogg & in The Netherlands on the evening of 5 December it
is called bisschopswijn after St Nicholas. The following recipe is the one we tend to use at Christmas
Matters HQ. Another good thing to do is to use a whole orange (not too big, mind you) studded with the cloves, rather than the lemon. Ingredients: 1
bottle full bodied red wine (it doesn't have to be expensive but avoid
bargain basement stuff)
½
bottle of water
5cm
piece of cinnamon stick
pea-sized
chunk of whole nutmeg
6
cloves
2 allspice
berries
£1 coin
sized piece of fresh root ginger
½ lemon
sugar to taste
4 tbsp
brandy/cointreau/fruit
liqueur of your choice Method: Put
the wine & water into a large pan. Tie the spices up into a small
square of muslin or muslin bag & add to the wine. If you don't
have muslin then add the spices direct - just make sure you sieve the
wine before serving. Thinly shave the zest off half of the lemon taking great care not to get any pith on the shavings & add to the wine. Bring the wine slowly & gently to a simmer & simmer for a few minutes. Do not allow the wine to boil. Add 4 tbsp of sugar & allow to dissolve then taste. Add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter mulled wine. Just before serving remove all the bits & bobs & pour into heat-proof glasses or cups. This wine can be reheated, but it's best to take the spices out after the 1st mulling otherwise the flavours can cloy.
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