While the beverage typically served as "wassail" at modern holiday feasts with a medieval theme most closely resembles mulled cider, historical wassail drinks were completely different, more likely to be mulled beer or mead. Sugar, ale, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon would be placed in a bowl, heated, and topped with slices of toast as sops.
Hence the first stanza of the traditional carol the Gloucestershire Wassail dating back to the Middle Ages:
Wassail! wassail! all over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.
At Carhampton, near Minehead, the Apple Orchard Wassailing is held on the Old Twelfth Night (17 January). The villagers form a circle around the largest apple tree, hang pieces of toast soaked in cider in the branches for the robins, who represent the 'good spirits' of the tree. A shotgun is fired overhead to scare away evil spirits and the group sings, the following being the last verse:
Old Apple tree, old apple tree;
We've come to wassail thee;
To bear and to bow apples enow;
Hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full;
Barn floors full and a little heap under the stairs.
Cousin Spike's Wassail
2 litres burgandy wine
1 litre water
1.5 pounds honey
3 sliced lemons
3 slice oranges
2 sliced limes
5 sticks cinanananananum
10 whole cloves or more
All go into the crock pot on low
( even Babtists like it)
-Harriet Swift
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2009
Prep Time:
1 hr 0 min
Inactive Prep Time:
--
Cook Time:
--
Level:
Intermediate
Serves:
approximately 3 quarts
6 small Fuji apples, cored
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
72 ounces ale
750 ml Madeira
10 whole cloves
10 whole allspice berries
1 cinnamon stick, 2-inches long
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 large eggs, separated
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Put the apples into an 8 by 8-inch glass baking dish. Spoon the brown sugar into the center of each apple, dividing the sugar evenly among them. Pour the water into the bottom of the dish and bake until tender, about 45 minutes.
Pour the ale and Madeira into a large slow cooker. Put the cloves, allspice, and cinnamon into a small muslin bag or cheesecloth, tied with kitchen twine, and add to the slow cooker along with the ginger and nutmeg. Set the slow cooker to medium heat and bring the mixture to at least 120 degrees F. Do not boil.
Add the egg whites to a medium bowl and using a hand mixer, beat until stiff peaks form. Put the egg yolks into a separate bowl and beat until lightened in color and frothy, approximately 2 minutes. Add the egg whites to the yolks and using the hand mixer, beat, just until combined. Slowly add 4 to 6 ounces of the alcohol mixture from the slow cooker to the egg mixture, beating with the hand mixer on low speed. Return this mixture to the slow cooker and whisk to combine.
Add the apples and the liquid from the baking dish to the wassail and stir to combine. Ladle into cups and serve.
Irish Wassail recipe
In a large saucepan over high heat, combine sugar and water. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and add cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, cloves and ginger. Cover and let stand in warm place for 1 hour.
Strain liquid into a large pot. Just before serving, add juices and cider and quickly bring to the boil. Remove from heat and serve.
Spike your wassail:
Cranberry-Rum Wassail
Assemble
2 1/2 quarts cranberry juice cocktail
2 cups water
1 quart grape juice
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup rum
Apple slices for garnish
Heat the cranberry juice, water, grape juice, orange juice and sugar together until boiling.
Remove from the heat. Let the mixture sit for ten minutes to cool a bit.
Add the rum.
Garnish with apple slices.
Serve warm.