Wassail
Spice up your hoildays with traditional Wassail, a hot beverage of spiced cider, ale and brandy or whiskey. Makes 1 ½ quarts.
Servings 8 servings
Calories 456kcal
Ingredients
- 6 apples medium
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 orange
- 12 cloves
- 48 ounces brown ale
- 2 cups brandy rum or bourbon
- 2 cups apple cider
- 12 allspice berries
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Core apples and place in a baking dish. Fill each cavity with brown sugar. Add 1 cup water to the baking dish. Bake for 1 hour until soft.
- With a skewer or toothpick, pierce 12-20 small holes in the skin of the orange. Fill each hole with a clove.
- In a large Dutch oven or pot, pour in the brown ale, brandy and apple cider.
- Add the clove-studded orange, allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, star anise, ground ginger and ground nutmeg. Simmer for 1 hour.
- Using tongs, add the hot baked apples to the mixture and pour in any juices left behind. Simmer for 15 minutes more, then reduce the heat. Stir in maple syrup.
- Serve warm. Garnish with orange slices or cinnamon sticks.
Notes
For the beer, any Scottish- or English-style ale, such as a brown ale or dark ale, works well. You could also use a blonde ale or a golden ale. A lager would work as well. Stay away from anything too hoppy, like an India pale ale. (I used a maple brown ale.)
Brandy is more traditional, but Irish whiskey, bourbon, dark rum or spiced rum would all work instead.
Instead of the whole and ground spices listed here, you could use a tea ball or tea bag of mulling spices. Follow the package instructions and use enough for 8 servings.
Maple syrup gives it a delicious holiday flavor, but you can use honey, brown sugar or simple syrup instead.
If needed, you can add ¼ cup orange juice and ~12 cloves instead of the clove-studded orange.
Nutrition
Serving: 6ounces | Calories: 456kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Sodium: 22mg | Potassium: 358mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 54g | Vitamin A: 116IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 1mg
