It’s all so festive, the lights are sparkling, the music is playing… but I have to remind myself it is only a Monday night! So to help me along with my Christmas decorating at Rostrevor Holidays, I made some warm mulled apple juice this evening. It is so nice, that I thought I had to share it with you! Our neighbouring county of Armagh is the Orchard of Ireland afterall… so we may as well make the most of it!

(Sorry – no exact measures, as I’m not great at cooking that way!)

Apple Juice (I used a litre of cloudy apple juice)
3 Star Anise
1 Cinnamon Stick
6 All Spice Berries
6 Cloves
6 Cardamom Pods
Stem Ginger in Syrup
1 Orange.

Put the spices into a piece of muslin cloth, break up the cinnamon stick slightly, and tie with some string – I used a new j-cloth as I didn’t have any other muslin cloth to hand. Pour the apple juice into a saucepan and put over a gentle heat, add the spice bouquet. Take the zest off the orange in strips with a vegetable peeler, and add to the apple juice. Cut the orange into wedges and add to pan. Finally, take a couple of pieces of stem ginger and roughly chop, and add to the pan, with some of the syrup.

Let the mixture heat, and the flavours infuse for about 5 minutes. I used a wooden spoon to stir and press the flavours out.

Serve in a mug and enjoy! Preferably in front of an open fire.