Mulled wine

I made this mulled wine for my brother's wedding. Every time I make it, I think of my brother and his charming wife. This is a Jamie Oliver recipe, but it's not in his Christmas recipe book. The only place I can find it is online. When I'm entertaining, I like to do as much ahead of time as possible, sometimes days ahead. I prefer to make the syrup for this beforehand, and then all I have to do on the day is pour the syrup into a pot, with the wine, and heat through until it is drinking temperature (not too hot, because you will burn off the alcohol).

I tend to save some of the peel and whole spices to use as garnish, especially if I am making this as a Christmas gift for friends. The bottle looks pretty with star anise, a cinnamon stick and a slice of citrus peel in. This makes enough syrup for two bottles of wine, and unless I'm having a party, that's a lot of wine to get through! So I make a double batch, and then divide into four small bottles so that I can use one per bottle of wine (hope that makes sense!).

Ingredients

  • 2 oranges
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 lime
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 fresh bay leaves
  • 1 whole nutmeg, for grating
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 2 bottles Chianti or other Italian red wine
  • 1 star anise

Method

  1. Peel large sections of peel from the oranges, lemon and lime using a potato-peeler.

  2. Put the sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the pieces of peel and squeeze in the orange juice.

  3. Add the cloves, cinnamon stick, star anise, bay leaves and about 10 to 12 gratings of nutmeg. Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and add to the pan. If the sugar is not fully covered, add a splash of sherry or brandy, but usually I find there's enough orange juice to do the job.

  4. Let this simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved into the liquid, then bring to the boil. Keep on a rolling boil for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until the syrup is thick.

  1. When the syrup is ready, turn the heat down to low and add the wine. Gently heat the wine and serve when it is warm enough. Do not bring it to the boil!

I use my slow cooker for this final step. I add the syrup and the two bottles of wine. I turn it on high for about 20 minutes, and when it's warm enough to drink, I turn it down to "keep warm".

References

Oliver, Jamie (date unknown). Jamie's mulled wine. Jamie Oliver. https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/jamie-s-mulled-wine/

Tags

  • Recipe
  • Christmas
  • Drinks
  • Easy