Enjoyed for hundreds of years, wassail – coming from the Anglo-Saxon phrase “wes þú hál,” offered as a toast to good health – is meant to be shared widely with friendly tidings.
Read on to learn how you can make this perfect holiday beverage at home and entice family and friends to gather round...
Ingredients:
- 4-5 apples, peeled, halved, and cored
- ¼ cup unrefined cane sugar
- 1 orange (medium)
- 13 whole cloves
- 2 quarts hard apple cider
- ½ cup brandy
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 6 allspice berries
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 eggs, separated (optional, provides a frothy finish)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Place apple halves on foil-lined baking sheet cut side up, then sprinkle with sugar
- Stud orange with cloves and place on the baking sheet
- Bake apples and orange together for 40 minutes
- While fruit bakes, mix cider and brandy in a large pot over medium-low heat, along with ginger and nutmeg (do not boil)
- Combine allspice berries and cinnamon sticks in a tea bag or tied cheesecloth, then steep within the cider until warm, 20-30 minutes
- Optional: In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks until pale and frothy. Whip egg white separately until stiff peaks form, then fold yolks into whites and temper them by gradually pouring 1 cup of hot wassail mixture into the eggs, whisking throughout
- Remove spice bundle from wassail and pour wassail into punch bowl
- If eggs were included, stir in tempered eggs slowly to combine
- Float apples and orange in punch bowl
- Serve
