Use Your Microwave Oven To Make Mulled Wine or Mulled Apple Cider

Both mulled wine and mulled apple cider are absolutely divine on a cold winter’s night. They chase away the chill in a most flavorful way. The microwave oven makes preparation of these traditional winter drinks quick and easy. Here are my recipes for each.

Ingredients For Mulled Cider

32 ounces of plain, pure apple cider or apple juice

12 whole cloves

2 cassia cinnamon sticks

1 three-inch piece of fresh ginger, about the thickness of your thumb

6 whole allspice berries

2 tablespoons of whole mace (substitute 1/8 teaspoon of grated nutmeg if you can’t find the mace)

1/2 cup of good quality bourbon (omit the bourbon if you want a kid friendly spiced apple cider)

Directions

Slice the ginger, with the peel still on. Gently smash the allspice berries, just enough to crack the outer shell. You may do this with a mortar and pestle or with the bottom of a heavy skillet.

Pour the apple cider into a large, microwave safe container. Add the sliced ginger, smashed allspice berries, cloves, cinnamon sticks and mace. Microwave the mixture at 50% power until hot, but not boiling. This should take between 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the wattage of your microwave oven. Stir well to distribute the flavors. You could add the bourbon then strain and serve the apple cider at this point, but there is a way to extract more flavor if you have a bit of time to spare. You could allow the cider to steep for 30 minutes. Then reheat before adding the bourbon and straining.

Ingredients For Mulled Wine

1 750 ml bottle of dry red wine (I like to use Merlot or Shiraz)

1 orange

1 two-inch piece of fresh ginger, about the thickness of your thumb

12 whole cloves

2 cassia cinnamon sticks

2 tablespoons of whole mace (or substitute 1/8 teaspoon of grated nutmeg if you don’t have the mace)

1/4 cup of honey (I think orange blossom honey is best in this recipe, but any honey will do)

Directions

Slice the orange and ginger, leaving the skins on both. Those skins have a lot of essential oils and flavors that you want to take advantage of.

Put all ingredients into a microwave safe container. Red wine can stain plastic, especially once heated. Keep this in mind when choosing your container.

Microwave at 50% power until hot, but not boiling. This should take between 2 to 3 minutes, depending on how powerful your microwave oven is. Stir to combine all the flavors. Just like the cider, you could strain and serve immediately, or you could let the wine and spices steep for 30 minutes before reheating and straining.

Any leftover mulled wine or cider should be refrigerated.

The Best Microwave Oven For Making Mulled Cider or Mulled Wine

Ideally you will want a microwave oven with inverter technology, since these are the only ones capable of achieving a true 50% power. Most microwave ovens set to 50% power simply alternate between 100% power and 0% power. Models with inverter technology actually lower the power output to the set level. This provides much more even cooking and less hot spots. You can use a normal microwave for these recipes, but exercise extra caution around the heated beverages, as they will be more prone to overheated spots. Visit Microwave Oven Reviews to find the best microwave oven for making mulled cider or mulled wine plus so much more. You’ll also find more great free microwave recipes to help you get the most out of your microwave oven.

Rabins Sharma Lamichhane

Rabins Sharma Lamichhane is senior ICT professional who talks about #it, #cloud, #servers, #software, and #innovation. Rabins is also the first initiator of Digital Nepal. Facebook: rabinsxp Instagram: rabinsxp

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