Mulled Merlot Recipes

MULLED WINE

Steps:

• Place the water, sugar, orange & lemon peels, whole cloves, and a pinch of nutmeg in a saucepan. Turn the heat to medium and allow the sugar to dissolve; this will let the spices' flavors and aromas to blend together. Once it comes to a boil and the sugar has dissolved, reduce the heat and gently simmer for 5 minutes.
• Strain this syrup and return it to the saucepan. Add the wine and turn the heat to low. Warm the wine mixture for a couple of minutes, but do not allow it to simmer.
• Serve in cups/glasses and enjoy!

CLASSIC MULLED WINE

Steps:

• To prepare the oranges, if using 2 small, slice one orange into rounds and slice the other in half. If using 1 large orange, slice it in half through the round middle, then slice one of the halves into rounds. Place the rounds into a medium heavy-bottomed pot or small Dutch oven. Squeeze the juice from the remaining oranges into the pot.
• Pour the wine into the pot, followed by the brandy. Add 1 tablespoon of the sweetener for now. Add the cinnamon sticks, star anise and cloves.
• Warm the mixture over medium heat until steaming (about 5 minutes), and keep an eye on it. When you start seeing the tiniest of bubbles at the surface, reduce the heat to the lowest of low.
• Carefully taste, and add another tablespoon of sweetener if it's not sweet enough for your liking. If it's not spicy enough to suit your preferences, continue cooking over very low heat for 5 to 10 more minutes.
• Serve in mugs with your desired garnishes! If you're adding cranberries as I did, you can add them to the pot to make it look extra festive.
• If you expect to polish off the mulled wine within 20 minutes or so, you can keep it on the stove over extra-low heat (it will become more spicy with time). Otherwise, remove it from the heat, cover, and rewarm over low heat if necessary. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days, covered (pour it through a strainer if you don't want it to become any more spicy than it already is).

MULLED MERLOT

Steps:

• Place cinnamon sticks and cloves on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and tie with string to form a bag., In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the wine, sugar, orange juice, brandy and orange slices. Add spice bag. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour or until heated through. Discard spice bag and orange slices. Serve warm; if desired, garnish with orange wedges and additional cinnamon sticks.

MULLED WINE RECIPE

Steps:

• Grate the nutmeg into a large saucepan. Pour in the honey/ caster sugar, and add the cinnamon stick and the cloves. Now, just add enough wine for the sweetener to dissolve in. Place over a low heat.
• Stir with a spatula until the honey/ superfine sugar dissolves. Once the sugar has dissolved (and hence there is no danger of it caramelising), increase the heat to medium and let the contents of the pan turn syrupy. We didn't add all the wine in one go, which is unlike a vast majority of recipes over the internet. This is because cooking the wine for long results in a substantial amount of alcohol burning off.
• Once the sweetener and wine in the pan have turned into a thick reduction, pour in the remainder of the wine. Gently stir with a spatula and add the orange slices, along with the star anise.
• Continue to cook on gentle heat until the wine is warm. Then ladle into heatproof glasses and serve.

MULLED MERLOT

Steps:

• Pour 1 bottle Merlot and mulling spices into a medium heavy saucepot. Stir with a wooden spoon. Heat wine over low heat until warm and spices have infused. Ladle wine into heat-proof wine glasses.