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Spiced Crockpot Mulled Wine with Vanilla and Citrus
This wonderful mulled wine has such a great taste and that is because it is allowed to cook gently so all the different flavors can combine. One great way to serve mulled wine is to put a pretty garnish into the bottom of each cup before serving the wine. You can use a blanched almond, a few fresh cranberries or raisins and maybe some dried hibiscus flowers for this. Else just serve the wine alone or with a slice of orange in it.
You can make mulled wine on the stove if you prefer but making it in the crockpot means you do not have to watch it, you do not lose half of it to evaporation, and you can serve it out of the crockpot while it is still plugged in so the mulled wine does not get cold. Also, if you use an aluminum pot the acid in the wine can react with it and your mulled wine will taste metallic. It is much easier just to use a slow cooker for it! This is a wonderful recipe and you can choose from port wine, brandy, or rum as the fortifying spirit in this mixture.
The cloves, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, vanilla, orange and lemon zest add so much flavor but of course the success of this crockpot mulled wine recipe is largely down to which red wine you use to make it. Do not use a cooking wine or anything you would not drink by itself because it will still taste bad even with all the spices and brandy added to it. Try Merlot or Zinfandel and forget anything that has been aged in oak because the oak flavor will interfere too much with the other flavors.
Warm Spiced Wine - A Real Winter Warmer!
Ingredients -
1 quart red wine
1 cup brandy, rum, or port wine
2 teaspoons whole allspice
10 cardamom pods
2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
White sugar, to taste
Preparation:
Add the water, wine, vanilla, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, brandy, orange zest, lemon zest, cardamom, and sugar to the crockpot and cook for 1 to 2 hours on low, then 15 minutes on high.
Strain it and serve it out of the crockpot, keeping the heat set to low.
(Serves 8)
Photo Description:
Mulled wine is a great drink for parties if you fancy something warm instead of cold and this smells amazing too. You can alter the ingredients if you want, making it stronger (by adding extra brandy) or not so strong, or changing the spices. You can also use citrus slices instead of zest. To get the sugared rim, like in the picture, simply wet the top of your serving glass with orange juice (from the orange you are using for zest) and roll it through white sugar. You can mix food coloring into the sugar if you want a colored sugar effect.
