Mulled wine perfect for Christmas in July

I love a good mulled wine and it's a must when celebrating 'Christmas in July' or any cold winter's night. A nice warming drink that was a hit on the night. So much so that I've had to write it down to swap recipes with another friend.

Ingredients

2 oranges (peel and juice)

1 lemon (peel only)

3 bay leaves

2 star anise

1 whole nutmeg

1 cassia bark (cinnamon stick will work too)

200 g caster sugar

2 bottles of Shiraz (I used Syrah/Shiraz grapes from Spain)

 

Method

 

1. Using a peeler, peel large sections of peel from the 2 oranges and 1 lemon.

 

2. Place the sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat with the juice of 2 oranges.

 

3. Throw in enough red wine to cover the sugar.

 

4. Let this simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved into the red wine and then bring to the boil.

 

5. Add peel, cassia bark, bay leaves, star anise and about 10 to 12 gratings of nutmeg and keep on a boil for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until you've got a beautiful thick syrup.

 

(This will create a wonderful flavour base by getting the sugar and spices to infuse and blend well with the wine. It's important to make a syrup base first as it needs to be quite hot. If you were to do this with 2 bottles of wine, you'll burn off the alcohol.)

6. When your syrup is ready, turn the heat down to low and add the rest of the wine.

 

7. Gently heat the wine and after around 5 minutes, when it's warm and delicious, ladle it into glasses or in my case mugs and serve.