🍎Chill-Out To 🍏Warm-Up🍎
Mulled Apple Cider! I live in San Diego, so needless to say, it’s not very cold. A chilly day around here is somewhere in the low 60’s. That’s when everyone takes out the knit caps and scarves. We burn fires in the fireplace and we don’t eat our meals outside. It’s a long awaited chance to wear our boots and long pants too.
We decided to seize the moment and go to our local mountains and really get a feel of the winter chill. There’s a very quaint little town near us. Only about an hours drive and you’re in an old western mining town. It actually snows there from time to time. It’s best known for it’s apples. Apple pie, apple juice and hard apple cider. You know where this is going, right? Well, time I made some spicy and warming Mulled Apple Cider. It’s flavored like apple pie ala mode. This is a winter warm up drink you can serve to the whole family too!
If you’re enjoying a winter chill near a warm fire, I say, why not try a twist on a Mulled Apple Cider and try this Apple Pie Ala Mode Version! (And this mulled cider does not suffer from a shot of bourbon, either…..I couldn’t get through this one story without mentioning bourbon, right?😉)
Julian, California
The 🚗 drive to Julian is a beautiful one. From the time we leave our home until we get to town, it’s absolutely gorgeous. You drive through orange groves 🍊, cattle pastures 🐄, lakes and a number of Indian reservations. That means you can also hit a couple of these 🎰 😁.
I love Julian so much, a few years ago, we rented a cabin for Thanksgiving. I had dreams of fires in the fireplace and a turkey in the oven, likely drinking spiced Mulled Apple Cider 🍎 as well.
But, 🌎 Warming ☀️
That was the year that it was unbelievably warm. It was at least 90 degrees on Thanksgiving day. I’m not saying that’s not happened before, but in the mountains, there’s no air conditioning to keep the house cool while you’re cooking all day. My wish for a chilly day of mountain celebration didn’t quite happen as I’d planned.
None the less, it was a beautiful place with all the fall colors you’d expect in the mountains. We even woke up to deer grazing in front of our window in the mornings.
American as Apple Pie 🥧
Julian, California was a gold rush town, established sometime around 1870. Now the street is still lined with much of the original architecture.
There’s no gold to speak of these days, but lots of apple orchards. They are also growing as a craft beer location, there are several now and also a few wineries and it’s a fairly good growing region too. Everything I like in a town!
If you’re curious about this town, here’s a link https://visitjulian.com/
Mulled Apple Cider – Apple Pie 🥧 Ala Mode Style 🍏🍎
Into a large heavy bottomed sauce pan, add 1 quart of either filtered or non filtered apple cider. For this, I prefer the unfiltered if you can find some. Next, add 2 cinnamon sticks, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. To give this cider to creamy vanilla flavor, add 1 whole vanilla bean. Just cut the bean in half and with the dull side of a knife, scrape out the beans and put it into the pot. Float the pods while the cider is “mulling”.
Let the mixture simmer on low flame for about 30 minutes. Remove the pod.
In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon brown sugar with 1 tablespoon turbinado or sanding sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix well, the pour onto a small plate. Rim the glasses with either honey or a little apple juice, then roll the rim in the sugar mixture.
Pour the warm Mulled Apple Cider into the prepared glasses, and garnish with a apple wedge. Sip and enjoy!
Ingredients
For the Mulled Cider
- 1 quart filtered or unfiltered apple cider
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 vanilla bean
- freshly grated nutmeg
For the sugar rim
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon turbinado or sanding sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- optional: honey
- Garnish: Apple wedges
Instructions
- Into a large heavy bottomed sauce pan, add 1 quart of either filtered or non filtered apple cider. For this, I prefer the unfiltered if you can find some. Next, add 2 cinnamon sticks and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Add 1 whole vanilla bean. Cut the bean in half and with the dull side of a knife, scrape out the beans and put it into the pot. Float the pods while the cider is "mulling".
- Let the mixture simmer for about 30 minutes on low flame. Serve warm in mugs.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon brown sugar with 1 tablespoon turbinado or sanding sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix well, the pour onto a small plate. Rim the glasses with either honey or a little apple juice, then roll the rim in the sugar mixture. Garnish with an apple wedge.
- Pour the warm Mulled Apple Cider into the prepared glasses, sip and enjoy!
