Homemade Hot Spiced Apple

The other night I had dinner with some friends and we were served some delicious hot spiced apple to drink. I loved it so much I decided to try and devise a homemade recipe for it. This a wonderful and alcohol free alternative to serving mulled wine so if you have any hosting to do over the next few weeks you should consider making some. It is spiced with similar flavours to mulled wine so its a nice drink to experiment with your own mix of spices. Here is what I used:

Ingredients
1.5l Apple juice (not shown)
Peel of one orange
Cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 vanilla pod
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
6-8 cloves
Squeeze of orange juice (not shown)

Method
Slice open your vanilla pod so the flavour can come out a little more then simply put all these ingredients into a large pan. You may want to break up one of the star anise to give it some extra flavour too. Heat gently until you have a hot beverage ready to serve.  The delicious smell will make your house feel very Christmassy.

You can pour it into a jug to serve or just ladle it straight into your glasses, try not to let the solid ingredients go in the glasses though!

As this is my last post before Christmas I want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and I hope you have lots of Joy over the season. Zoe xx