Wassail (Hot Spiced Ale with Roasted Apples)

Before you start

Wassail is the old English hot drink of the Christmas and Twelfth Night season, a large bowl of warm ale or cider spiced with nutmeg and ginger and sweetened with sugar. The word comes from an Old English toast meaning roughly "be well." Recipes have always varied by region and household, so there is no single correct version; the common thread is ale or cider, spice, sugar and apples.

This version uses brown ale and medium-dry sherry with roasted apples floating in the bowl. Roasting the apples first makes them soft and caramelized, and some burst into the drink as it warms, giving it body and a baked-apple aroma. Like mulled wine, wassail should be hot but never boiling, which would turn the ale bitter and drive off its malt flavor.

Ingredients

• Roasted apples6 small apples — tart-sweet, such as Cox or Gala, cored
• 2 tbsp (25 g) demerara or brown sugar
• Wassail1.5 liters (about 3 US pints) English brown ale or dry hard cider — or a mix of both
• 250 ml (1 cup) medium-dry sherry or Madeira
• 100 g (½ cup packed) demerara or light brown sugar — adjust to taste
• 1 lemon — zest in wide strips plus juice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 whole cloves
• 6 allspice berries
• 1 tsp ground ginger — or 4 thin slices fresh ginger
• ½ whole nutmeg — freshly grated

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Score the skin of each apple around its middle so it does not burst violently, set them in the roasting pan, sprinkle with 2 tbsp sugar and add 3 tbsp water to the pan.
2. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until the apples are soft when pierced and the skins have split and caramelized in places. Leave them in the pan until needed.
3. Meanwhile, put about 250 ml (1 cup) of the ale, the sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger and nutmeg in the pot. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, then keep it at a bare simmer for 5 minutes to infuse the spices.
4. Pour in the remaining ale and the sherry. Warm over low heat until steaming hot, about 65°C to 70°C (150°F to 160°F), for 10 to 15 minutes. It should not bubble.
5. Add the lemon juice and taste. Add more sugar if the ale is bitter; brown ales vary from malty-sweet to dry.
6. Transfer the roasted apples and their pan juices to a warmed punch bowl or leave them in the pot. Ladle the wassail over them, straining out the whole spices, and serve hot with a piece of soft apple in each cup if you like.

Tips for success

• Choose a malty, low-bitterness ale. Hoppy IPAs and pale ales turn harsh and bitter when heated.
• Grate the nutmeg fresh at the start. It is the defining spice of old wassail recipes and loses its aroma fast once ground.
• Keep the pot covered on very low heat while serving so the ale does not lose its warmth or its alcohol.

Substitutions

Brown ale

Dry hard cider makes the fruitier, West Country-style version; mixing half ale and half cider is also common. Use a good malt-forward stout for a darker, roastier bowl.

Sherry

Madeira, ruby port or apple brandy all work; port adds sweetness, so reduce the sugar. Leave fortified wine out for a lighter drink.

Alcoholic base

For a non-alcoholic wassail, use 1.5 liters of fresh apple cider plus 250 ml orange juice instead of ale and sherry, and cut the sugar by half.

Variations

Lamb's wool

Mash the roasted apple flesh and whisk it into the hot wassail, discarding skins and cores, so foamy apple pulp floats on top.

Orange and clove wassail

Stud an orange with cloves, roast it with the apples and add it to the bowl.

Troubleshooting

It tastes bitter

The ale was too hoppy or the pot boiled. Add sugar and lemon to balance, and choose a malty brown ale next time.

It tastes flat and beery

It needs sweetness and acid. Add sugar a spoonful at a time and a squeeze more lemon until the spice comes forward.

The apples fell apart into mush

They were over-roasted or a soft variety. Stir the pulp in, since it thickens the drink pleasantly, or strain it out for a clear bowl.

Storage

Strain leftovers, cool and refrigerate in a covered container for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stove without boiling. Discard roasted apples left at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

Safety notes

Each 220 ml cup contains about 0.8 U.S. standard drinks (a standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol), and stronger ales or extra sherry raise that. Heating does not remove most of the alcohol. Serve only to adults of legal drinking age, and never drink and drive.