Wassail

Wassail

Give a nod to traditional winter celebrations with this delicious mulled cider, steeped with warming spices and enriched with fruit

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 25 mins
Serves 6-8
Wassail

In The Pickwick Papers, the revellers at Old Wardle’s sat down to a ‘mighty bowl of wassail’, an old country drink of hot ale, often thickened with eggs and with roasted apples bobbing in it. It was a drink for Christmas, New Year, or Twelfth Night, particularly in orchard counties, where revellers toasted the apple trees with wassail to bless the new year’s crops. Since modern beers become bitter when heated, cider is a good substitute 

This recipe is from Christmas with Dickens, published by CICO Books (£9.99) Photography © CICO Books

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Christmas recipes
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Ingredients

  • 1 litre strong dry cider or scrumpy
  • 2–4 tbsp brown sugar, according to taste
  • 2-3 tbsp apple brandy, or more to taste
  • 6 cloves
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 small piece ginger
  • A little grated nutmeg
  • Orange and lemon slices

Method

  • Step 1

    Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat very gently for 15–20 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil.

  • Step 2

    When you are ready to serve, fish out the spices and fruit with a sieve or slotted spoon, then pour the liquid into heatproof cups.

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