C hristmas markets and mulled wine! Would it sound exaggerated to say that this is one of the reasons I moved to Austria? The magic of the Christmas markets starts at the end of November and continues right until the Christmas holidays. They are held outdoors and people usually spend hours there without much activity. The main remedies for the cold are warm Christmas drinks like punch, eggnog or mulled wine (all made with alcohol, except the kids’ punch… which can be also ordered with a shot of Amaretto or rum 😉 ).
Christmas lights, a variety of tasty things to eat, hot drinks, stands with handmade Christmas toys and all sorts of other gifts. Friends, laughter, cheeks flushed from the cold and very warm hearts.
Because of the complicated situation during the past two years and the fact that for the second year many Christmas markets did not take place, I decided to share with you my recipe for homemade mulled wine. You can prepare it very easily at home and if you ask me – it tastes even better than what we are often offered at the markets 🙂
Homemade Mulled Wine
Ingredients
- 1 bottle Red wine, dry (I usually use Primitivo)
- 20 g Brown sugar (may vary according to your preference)
- 2 orange slices (or a few tangerine slices)
- Orange zest
- Spices (Cinnamon, Cloves, Star Anise, Vanilla)
- 50 ml Rum (optional)
Directions
- Wash the fruits you will use.
- Cut a few slices from the orange or use a few pieces of tangerine.
- In a suitable pot, add all the ingredients.
- Put the pot on the stove and turn it on low heat.
- The wine should get heated up to a high temperature, but should not boil or it will get bitter.
- Right before the wine startes boiling, remove it from the heat. Leave it for about one hour in the closed pot.
- Before serving, remove the fruits, strain the wine from the spices and reheat the drink.
