Gemma I have always loved Christmas. I love the magic, the traditions and the coming together with the ones we love so we can eat, drink and be merry. In years passed our table has been full of 12+ on Christmas day. Growing up we used to have over 15 at my parent’s house. Cousins, aunties, uncles, grandparents, friends who had nowhere else to go. All were welcome at our table. It’s a feeling I love, to have my closest kin together eating good food and celebrating. I am very aware that Christmas 2020 will be different on many fronts but I am determined to create Christmas joy in our little world. This mulled syrup recipe is the start of the magic.
Mulled season
As soon as November approaches I gear up for mulled syrup season. I start with mulled cider, which feels apt for bonfire night. The acidic hot beverage cutting through whatever hearty feast we have on the table. The smell of fire and the taste of mulled cider will never get old. But by the first Saturday in December, we are dressing our tree, listening to Sufjan Stevens – Songs for Christmas and we are doing it all over a pot of mulled wine.
Don’t buy the pre made stuff
If you have ever had a pre-made/bottled mulled wine and decided the drink is not for you then I am not in the least bit surprised. I would pass on that too! Nigel Slater captures my feelings on the matter in his book The Christmas Chronicles “It is fashionable to trash the very notion of mulled wine. The dissenters have a point. Most mulled wine is indeed quite horrid, bargain-basement red, a squeeze of acid, watery orange, more spice than a bowl of cheap potpourri”. But if you take a little time and care to make your own mulled syrup you can have a batch to hand to see you through the festivities.
Glühwein and Christmas markets
Christmas markets and Glühwein go hand in hand for me at this time of year. Ordinarily, I would be visiting them with my Mum and Sisters. Weaving through the crowds, mugs in hand, filled with steaming Glühwein ready to wash down bratwurst and some warm sweet treats. I love everything about it, wrapped up, feeling festive and Christmas shopping to boot.
A wreath on the door
This year with lockdown I decided to host a wreath making night. Some of it virtual with my youngest sister and her fiancee. But because my middle sister lives with my parents and they are in a child support bubble with us, we were able to have some festive cheer while the babies slept. I baked mince pies, made my mulled wine – thanks to my mulled syrup – and planned a night of festive cheer around our table. We bought our wreath making supplies from the amazing team at Donna Marie Gifts who have worked with dedication throughout lockdown (both) to serve their community (local and online) with a click & collect/delivery service.
Donna Marie Gifts sell wreath making kits with a range of options allowing you to make an artificial wreath that you can bring out every year. Three years ago Donna hosted an artificial wreath making day at her house with our Mums and it was so much fun, as you can see from my huge smile.
Thank you Fresh!
But this year I wanted us to make fresh moss wreaths which I was apprehensive about, having had no prior experience. But, our local and wonderful Florist Fresh were able to order a huge bag of fresh moss at very short notice and Caroline gave me the pep talk I needed (in the car park, in the rain) and some spruce for good measure! Thanks, Caroline and Hannah!
Donna Marie Gifts fresh wreath making kits are going to fly out because they are beautiful and incredibly rewarding to do. If you want to order a wreath making kit from Donna the best thing to do is to follow her on Instagram and be quick!
Creative and kind
Donna is such a creative person and she can turn her hand to anything but what I love most about her is that she is such a champion of others. It’s lovely to see her support other local businesses, giving them space on her platform. We have to say a huge thank you to the whole DMG team for helping us to create a night of festive fun amid an otherwise gloomy November.
Mulled Syrup
I have two different syrup recipes to share with you. The first is my Mulled Cider Syrup which is thicker and sweeter than it’s mulled wine equivalent. Both make great gifts for friends and family. I make the syrups because they give a warm but subtle flavour. They are so much better than throwing the spices in with the wine/cider and they allow you to make nonalcoholic mulled drinks too – you can substitute apple juice for cider, although I would use less syrup as it might be a touch too sweet.
Harrys stamp of approval
Many years ago we hosted a little dinner party with Jim’s Auntie Viv and Uncle Harry. I have always had a little soft spot for Harry – a true gent! If you want a good night out and a plethora of good stories to accompany it then Harry is the man for the job. That was the start of my mulled syrup journey. I served Glühwein to Viv and Harry that night and Harry told me it was the best he had had since his days living out in Germany with the RAF. I’ll take that from a man who knows his drinks! We look forward to raising a glass of Glühwein with you again V&H!
You can make your syrup, decant it into bottles – we got ours from DMG – decorate and accompany with the appropriate booze. This year as budgets are much reduced I think there is something really special about hand made gifting. A little nod to the tradition of gift-giving but without the strain on the families finances. Mulled Syrup is the first in our festive recipes which will run throughout December. We will share with you the recipes that make their way to our friends and families Christmas tables.
Feliz navidad!
Family Feed’s Mulled Syrups
Ingredients
Mulled Cider – This makes enough syrup for 4 liters of dry cider. However tastes vary and you may wish to experiment.
- 22 cloves
- 3 star anise
- 2 sticks of cinnamon
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- 500 g of caster sugar
- 1 l of water
Mulled wine syrup – This makes enough syrup for 2 bottles of wine
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 1/3 nutmeg ground
- 2 star anise
- 2 cardamon pods
- 14 cloves
- 250 g sugar
- 1 l water
- 1 lemon
- 2 oranges
Instructions
Mulled Cider Syrup
- In a pan, on a medium heat, add your spices and add the peel of 1 orange and 1 lemon
- Add the sugar and cover with water
- Stir the ingredients together and heat gently for 5 minutes or until the sugar has fully dissolved. Cook for 15 minutes on a low simmer.
- Then for the last 5 minutes bring the syrup to a boil and remove from the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes before handling. Be really careful when handling the syrup it will be unbelivibly hot. I never make this around the children.
- Once cool decant your syrup in to a steralised jar/bottle. I always leave the peel/spices in this syrup and roughly strain them off at the point of using it.
To make mulled cider
- Add 1/2 the mulled cider syrup to a pan along with some sliced orange and bring to the boil.
- Add 2 liters of still dry cider and gently warm
- As soon as the cider starts to show a hint of steaming, remove from the heat and serve immediatly. You will cook off the alcohol if you allow it to continue cooking
- To serve add a measure of rum to the bottom of your tumbler/glass/ mug and cover with hot mulled cider
Mulled Wine Syrup
- Peel 2 oranges and lemons and then cut them in half
- In a pan add your cardamon pods, cinnemon, cloves and grated nutmeg
- Then add your lemon and orange peel, sugar, halves of lemons and oranges, cover with water and stir
- Gently simmer the syrup for 20 minutes, stir for the first few or until the sugar has disolved
- In the video I am steralising my muslin cloth in another pan ready to strain the syrup
- After 20 miutes remove the syrup from the heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Be really careful when handling the syrup it will be unbelivibly hot. I never make this around the children.
- Once cooled strain your syrup in to a clean and steralised pan. This syrup is much thinner and it pays to strain through muslin to catch some of the grated nutme.
- Carefully decant your syrup in to steralised bottles (this quantity fills 2 x 500ml)
To make mulled wine
- Add 500ml syrup to a pan and bring to a boil
- Cover with 1 bottle of red wine and gently warm
- As soon as the cider starts to show a hint of steam, remove from the heat and serve immediatly. You will cook off the alcohol if you allow it to continue cooking.
- To serve to add a measure of brandy or rum to the bottom of your tumbler/glass/ mug and cover with hot mulled wine
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Gem I loved doing this with you Hales and Elizabeth on zoom can’t wait for us to be altogether as a family again. I loved the mulled wine and mince pie a great touch to a lovely evening. Was anyone counting how many I had.
🥴🤦♀️😂🤣
Family is everything ❤️
🙂 I am so pleased you had a good evening! Wreath making is now firmly part of our Christmas tradition. As for the mulled wine and mince pies, I can’t think of a better companion for the evening. I wasn’t counting and of the drinks! 😉 xxxx
[…] and, thanks to this wonderful experience, I can firmly say that this recipe is going to be part of our Christmas traditions going […]