Mom's Mulled Cider for the Crock Pot

HeatherFeather's Note:

My mother always made mulled cider during the fall and winter for any holiday gatherings. It makes the house smell wonderful. This version works best with good quality cider, but I have sometimes been forced to use grocery store jugs and it still tastes good. This will be highly spiced and has a bit of a citrusy tang from the lemons. Serving size will vary greatly depending upon the size of your crock.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1 -2 medium orange
• 1 -2 medium red apple
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• whole cloves, for poking into fruit
• 2 lemons
• 1 dash ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 dash ground cloves (optional)
• 1 dash nutmeg (optional)
• 1 gallon good quality cider (or more)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, to taste

Directions:

1. Set a medium or large crock pot to HIGH heat.
2. Fill crock pot with cider- leaving room for the apple and orange to float around (we'll get to them in a minute).
3. You will have extra cider at this point- use this for replenishing later.
4. Wash the orange and apple and dry off.
5. Poke cloves into the flesh of the orange and the apple- as many as you like.
6. Set the cloves studded fruit into the crock pot.
7. Add cinnamon sticks and some brown sugar to taste.
8. Using a vegetable peeler, cut off two long strips of lemon rind from one of the lemons, being careful not to get any of the white pith.
9. Drop these into the cider pot and save the rest of the partially zested lemon for another use.
10. Slice the remaining lemon into thin slices and drop 4-5 slices into the cider pot.
11. Save the remaining slices for later or another use (I set them in a dish for guests to use as garnish).
12. Cover crock pot and let mixture come to almost a boil (this may take up to an hour- this will vary greatly depending upon the size of your crock pot).
13. Once it is almost boiling,sprinkle with a very light dash of each ground spice to taste (don't add too much or it will be gritty).
14. Turn the heat down to LOW and allow cider to cook at least another hour before serving.
15. Leave the crock pot on LOW and allow guests to ladle out mugfuls.
16. Keep replenishing more cider as the crockpot empties.
17. You will NOT need to add more spices, etc, as long as you still have 1/4 of the original mulled cider left in the crock.
18. No need to return to a boil, just pour in the new cider and continue to heat on LOW.
19. The last dregs of cider will be very heavily spiced- I usually discard the remaining 1/4 of liquid after I am finished replenishing the cider for the day.

Reviews

[chia]

this was yummy, i made it tonite- and it smelled sooo good, made a nice pre-dinner snack. perfect for a chilly day

[windy_moon]

Great. My youngest son made this for Christmas Eve. Easy enough for a 13 year old boy and delicious. I love the smell. Thanks!

[Concrete Gardener]

This was really excellent, though I used only oranges (no apples or lemons). I brought it to my first Thanksgiving with the in-laws and it was a hit!