Mulled Cider seems to be the first Christmassy thing you're allowed to indulge in without people tutting and reminding you it's November. This is all very good because it tastes like heaven in a cup and everywhere it can be purchased from tends to be a warm wintery hideout. In short, even if you are a mulled wine sort of person, mulled cider should be investigated and is "very on trend" this season.
Luckily, I've found a recipe which produces the shop-bought variety to a tee in your own kitchen. Apparently nowadays the best way to find a recipe is to smugly tweet about said drink from the establishment and wait for cider fanatics to send you their recipes. This happened to me courtesy of Real Cider who you can find on Twitter as @RealCider which was all very convenient because it also tastes amazing.
It's all very simple. You will need the following:
Ingredients
4 pints of still, dry farmhouse cider
3 apples – washed, cored and sliced
2 oranges, washed and slice
8 whole cloves
Juice and zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
2 tsp ground mixed spice
6 tbsp light soft brown sugar
2 cinnamon quills snapped in half
I used 'Old Rosie Cloudy Scrumpy' which is cheap and strong but tasted amazing. Really, anything that counts as dry and still works fine since you'll add a heap of lovely flavours and the alcohol cooks off quite a bit. I am also unaware of what a waxed lemon is and just grabbed the nearest yellow lemon-like fruit in the shop which worked out fine.
Directions
Put all the ingredients into a pan, cover and heat gently for a minimum of 1 hour
Do not boil
The instructions are very simple. For final touches I found that the cider needed a sieving because lots of crumbly spices and fruity bits has gathered at the bottom. My local serves mulled cider with pieces of apple in, so I chucked out the orange (and let's say turned it into mulled cider orange jam for the sake of seeming economical) and kept in a slice or two or apple per mug. You meanwhile could keep both fruits in your mug, or solely orange, or none. Best served in glass mugs.
Lastly, find friends and drink.
Image via thedabble's Flickr stream