Homemade Wassail 2.10 The Bracebridge Dinner

“We're talking seven courses here. Soup, fish, Peacock Pie, the Baron of Beef, the salad, then the Plum Pudding and the Wassail.” “And there's gonna be a big raised platform where the Squire of Bracebridge is going to preside over the festivities.” “Yeah, he tastes the foods and makes pronouncements. He's like the host of the evening, and his costume is the coolest.”

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups apple juice

• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

• Juice from one large lemon

• 1 tsp vanilla

• ½ tsp almond extract

• 1 tbsp maple syrup

• 1 tbsp honey

• 1 cosmic crisp apple, sliced (plus more to serve)

• 4 navel orange slices

• 4 cinnamon sticks (plus more to serve)

• 2 star anise

• 7-8 whole cloves

Directions: 

1. Place a large pot over medium heat. Add the apple juice, orange juice, lemon juice, vanilla, almond extract, maple syrup, and honey. Whisk gently to combine. 

2. Add the apple slices, orange slices, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves and stir to combine. 

3. Let the mixture reach a boil for a minute then reduce the heat to low. 

4. Simmer on low for 30 minutes then strain out the solids. 

5. Serve with a cinnamon stick and an apple slice.

I was so excited to make wassail! It’s one of my favorite cold weather beverages, and the timing of this post is perfect. Tomorrow is Denton’s Annual Wassail Fest, and it’s one of my favorite traditions this time of year! A bunch of local businesses make their own wassail, and we get to try them all for free and vote on our favorite. It was fun getting to make my own version. Cheers!

Happy cooking from the Hollow!

(I made tofurkey for my last encore dish, but decided not to write a recipe for it because I didn’t particularly like how it tuned out!)

If you missed my last encore dish, catch up here!