{"id":434,"date":"2009-12-09T11:24:54","date_gmt":"2009-12-09T11:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jamesramsden.com\/?p=434"},"modified":"2009-12-09T11:24:54","modified_gmt":"2009-12-09T11:24:54","slug":"mulled-cider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jamesramsden.com\/2009\/12\/09\/mulled-cider\/","title":{"rendered":"Mulled cider"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n The modern Christmas provides a curious tension between innovation and tradition, novelty and nostalgia, grandchildren and grandparents. We undoubtedly wish to preserve certain aspects of the period. It was only about a couple of years ago that I stopped insisting my stocking was put on the end of my bed as I feigned slumber. And I bet every family has their own way of going about opening their stockings. As for food – there are far more interesting things to eat than turkey, and yet anything else, in our home at least, just wouldn’t feel right, if only because of the near-deranged and much-anticipated plundering of the leftovers for sandwiches (complete with moist-maker)<\/a>.<\/p>\n But change is essential. Each year the Christmas miserablists <\/a>seem to take a deep breath in late November and then spend the next month expectorating their hatred for what should be (and is for many) a wonderful time of year. Most complaints are the same old chestnuts – too much family time, bad music, too expensive, too commerical, too much to drink (huh?), too much to eat (quoi?).\u00a0 These cliched quibbles are an indication that change is <\/em>necessary if e’er I saw one. However the changes need to be slight and subtle. Start trying to reinvent the wheel and you’re going to irk a lot more people than the relatively small few that delight in making this time of year gloomy for everybody else.<\/p>\n For my part, swapping mulled wine for mulled cider is a good start. Cheaper (apparently we’re in the middle of a ‘financial crisis’ so this can only be a good thing), different, fun, and yet unmistakably festive.<\/p>\n Makes 3 litres<\/p>\n 4 bottles of decent cider (fizzy is fine, the fizz cooks off)<\/p>\n 500ml water<\/p>\n 500ml orange juice<\/p>\n 150g sugar<\/p>\n 2 cinnamon sticks<\/p>\n A small handful of cardamom pods<\/p>\n A few cloves<\/p>\n Star anise<\/p>\n Some peelings of ginger<\/p>\n Bourbon or rum (optional)<\/p>\n I happened to have some barberries leftover from the Persian cooking experiment<\/a>, so I slung them in too. You can pretty much stick anything you fancy in there.<\/p>\n Put all the ingredients into a saucepan over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to just under a boil and leave for at least twenty minutes before serving. Don’t let the cider boil or you’ll lose some of the alcohol. A drop of bourbon or rum at the end is a nice touch.<\/p>\n