Mulled Apple Cider

Name: Mulled Apple Cider
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 8 mugs
Ingredients: 8 cups unfiltered apple cider (not alcoholic); 1 orange, sliced; 2 cinnamon sticks; 6 whole cloves; 4 slices fresh ginger; ¼ tsp grated nutmeg; 1 strip lemon zest

The Wassail Bowl

Apple cider steeped hot with orange, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. The whole house smells of it, and it sits warm all night.

Make-aheadHolds 3h+VegetarianVegan

Prep5 min

Cook25 min

Total30 min

Yield8 mugs

At the table: In a slow cooker on warm up to 4 hours.

Not yet table-tested. This recipe is written from standard, well-known methods and has not been through our test tables yet. The badge changes when it has.

Crafting formula

Challenge★☆☆☆☆

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Prestige ranks

As written: spiced and steeped.
Toast the whole spices in the dry pot until fragrant before the cider goes in.
Make a spiced syrup from scratch (honey, water and the spices, simmered and strained) and stir it into fresh pressed cider.
Serve wassail style: a great bowl with roasted apples floating on top, ladled into warm cups at the table.

Cooking at Hearth. The dish as written. Simple, honest, done well.

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Hero sheet

Why nowA warm, alcohol-free drink for the whole table, kids included, made in one pot.

Mulled Apple Cider — Illustration generated with AI, not a photo of this recipe.

Ingredients

Party size

As written: 8 mugs.

Method

Put everything in a large pot.
Heat until it barely simmers, then turn it down and steep 20 minutes. Don't let it boil.
Look forSteaming, with a few lazy bubbles at the edge.
Strain into mugs, or into a slow cooker on warm.

Make ahead

Make up to 3 days ahead, strain, and chill. Reheat until steaming.

Holding

In a slow cooker on warm up to 4 hours.

Allergens

None of the major allergens as written. Always check labels on packaged ingredients.

Notes

For grown-ups, add a splash of brandy or hard cider to their mugs at the table, not to the pot.

Tavern Night

This dish's twist table (d6)

1–2	The classic stands. No twist. Cook it as written.
3	Herb swap. A sprig of rosemary in each mug
4	Acid strike. A splash of cranberry juice
5	Plating challenge. Float roasted apple slices in the bowl, the old lamb's wool way
6	Host's boon. The Host picks any twist above, or the table invents one. The safety rule still applies.

Roll before you start cooking. No twist ever changes a time, a temperature or how done something must be.