Mull your wine

Top 10 Christmas cooking cheats

Bisschops wijn siroop

Felicity Cloake

Though wise men steer well clear of the travesty served on tap from 1 December, spiced booze is a fine medieval tradition. Given the whole point of mulled wine is to put you in a seasonally appropriately merry mood, it’s silly to burn off all the alcohol by simmering it for hours, so make this spiced syrup instead and keep it on hand, ready to stir into warm wine, cider, apple juice or even ale, as takes your fancy.

Spiced booze is a fine medieval tradition

To make a batch, put 160g of light brown sugar in a pan with 250ml water, a cinnamon stick, three cloves, three lightly crushed cardamom pods and the peel (in thick strips) and juice of an unwaxed lemon and an orange. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Leave to cool, then strain into a sterilised bottle and refrigerate.

Then, when the mood takes you over the next three weeks, add five or six tablespoons of the mix to every bottle of wine you “mull” (or three tablespoons per 500ml of cider or fruit juice), and warm gently in a pan until steaming. Garnish with slices of orange and lemon before serving.

Engeland - Drank