A delicious hot drink for the holidays: The Pioneer Woman’s Mulled Apple Cider Recipe. Perfect for the fall, holidays, or a cozy treat on a cold day.
I always love it when I’m done with Christmas shopping, and I get to sit down and enjoy a cup ofmulled apple cider.This The Pioneer Woman’s Mulled Apple Cider Recipe is amazing, and it’s so yummy to serve to company!
Table of Contents
Mulled Apple Cider Recipe
If you haven’t watched Ree’s cooking show on Food Network, or visited her blog, The Pioneer Woman, then you are missing out. (And a few years ago, that’s me in the white blouse riding Ree’s horse (LB) at her ranch. Check out the Chocka Mocka Locka Wocka post.)
Packed with everything delicious, Ree’s holiday cookbook covers 12 holidays!
I’m a picture-gal–I love pictures that tell a story, the whole story, and Ree’s photography is perfect for making me smile, especially when I see Charlie always posing for the camera!
Here’s a little excerpt from Ree, summing up what the book is about. Quite honestly, it’s more than a holiday book, because most recipes could be made almost any day of the week.
There’s nothing more delicious than a holiday.
Oh, is it ever true. Whether it’s the anticipation of Christmastime or the ghoulish glee of Halloween, if I see a holiday on the horizon, I simply can’t contain my excitement. There’s just something about the traditions, the family togetherness, the resurfacing of childhood memories . . . the making of new ones. Holidays are wonderful, special, and fun . . . and they always make me happy.
And one more thing: They make me want to cook! –Ree
Bringing people together
Who doesn’t get excited for the holidays and cooking?! Bringing people together in a cozy home, and making them happy with a home-cooked meal is my favorite!
Pour the apple cider into a large pot over medium-high heat.
Dice up the apples and toss them into the cider.
Peel the rind off the orange in large pieces and toss them in.
Add the allspice berries, the cinnamon sticks, and the cranberries.
Add the sugar and stir it around to dissolve.
Bring the mixture to a low boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add the brandy if using, then simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.
Here's the difference between apple cider and apple juice: Apple cider is just unfiltered apple juice that can be served hot or cold. Mulled apple cider is unfiltered apple juice that's been heated and flavored with mulling spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and allspice; and fruits like oranges, lemons, and apples.
100-proof bourbons seem to be the way to go for cider because Nick Madden, the bar manager at Elixir in San Francisco, tells us his "top choice" for the pairing is Heaven Hill's Bottled-in-Bond 7 year. "This bourbon is one of my personal favorites. It meets all the criteria for pairing with apple cider," he explains.
Many of these spices—such as cinnamon, cloves, fresh ginger and nutmeg—are great for supporting immune health and function. Another health benefit of unfiltered mulled apple cider is that it may help maintain regular digestive health thanks to the fiber.
The process for making apple cider and spiced apple cider is the same. The main difference is that spiced apple cider is, well, spiced! It typically has been infused with flavors of different warm spices (like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg) versus regular apple cider which gets its flavor solely from the apples.
With the goal of consuming the alcohol, any evaporated alcohol is a small affront to the holiday season. But fear not, hot cider, hot toddy, and mulled wine lovers: Around 85 percent of your beloved alcohol will survive the heating process.
Very little alcohol will cook off. The boiling point of ethanol is 79C - you should WARM mulled wine and certainly not bring it anywhere near close to 79C.
Many alcohols mix well with apple cider. Dark liquors like bourbon (my pick) or dark rum are traditional, but they are by no means the only option. Vodka pairs well with apple cider and is a good light option. You can even let guests each pick their own.
Vodka can do the trick. Since it doesn't contribute much in the way of flavor, we add fresh ginger for its distinctive, peppery-sweet flavor. All of our cider variations smell fantastic on the stovetop, but this one might be the most aromatic of the bunch.
Bourbon, brandy, or even a dark aged rum have enough oomph to stand up to the sweet flavors of the spices and apple cider. As to when to add in the booze, it's best to wait until the mulling spices have flavored everything first.
We recommend only adding fruit peel later on into the the mulling process as it can give a bitter after taste if left in for too long. Try adding your fruit slices for the last 5 minutes before serving.
This was tested with Angry Orchard hard apple cider and Captain Morgan spiced rum. I absolutely love how cozy and refreshing this spiced cocktail is and I know you'll love it too!
The fruit used to make cider is naturally high in sugar, which is why cider is higher in sugar than beer. As part of the brewing process, yeast is added to the juice to begin fermentation. The method used in the fermentation process generally dictates how much sugar is in the cider.
What Does Mulled Cider Mean? Mulled Cider is typically a sweet cider heated with spices and citrus fruits. Mulled means to heat, sweeten, and flavor (a beverage like cider or wine) with spices.
In North America the freshly expressed juice that has not been subjected to any permanent preservative treatment is generally called sweet cider, whereas juice that has been permitted to undergo some natural fermentation is designated hard cider.
Wassail (/ˈwɒsəl/, /-eɪl/ WOSS-əl, -ayl, most likely from Old Norse "ves heill") is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to-door charity-giving or used to ...
Introduction: My name is Corie Satterfield, I am a fancy, perfect, spotless, quaint, fantastic, funny, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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