It’s late autumn up here in the northern hemisphere, with cool days and chilly nights, the perfect time to cozy up to some spiced, hot, delicious cider (with plenty of whipped cream of course.) But i don’t like playing by the rules here, so i always have to be tinkering with things and my cider is no different. Instead of the boring old spices and some crazy long wait for things to steep, i use chai masala spiked with extra cinnamon and ginger, a bit of brown sugar and an extra clove and allspice berry for good measure. The result: ridiculously delicious cider that’s ready in 10 minutes, just enough time for you to queue up something on netflix and ready your blanket for some couch nesting. By the way, we’re talking non-alcoholic fresh-pressed apple cider here, i don’t think i’d recommend using alcoholic cider….though, hey, that may be quite delicious too…
I’ve set up the recipe per serving, so you can make however much you want for however many people (or just yourself) and there really isn’t much to this. We have fresh-pressed apple cider (or apple juice if you must), preferably one that’s a little on the dry side, a little brown sugar (though you CAN leave this out, especially if your cider is on the sweet side), chai masala, ceylon cinnamon powder, ginger powder, a single clove, and a lonely allspice berry. We also like to add just a pinch of salt, which really brings out the flavours, but you’re welcome to leave that out if you REALLY want to (but you shouldn’t, you really shouldn’t.)
You simply toss everything into your pan, bring it up to a light boil or hard simmer, then take it off the heat, cover it and let the flavours infuse for 5-10 minutes, run it through a fine mesh strainer into your cup, cups, or serving vessel of choice and on to some sippable yum time! I like to rim my cups (or glasses) with some spiced sugar, simply mix up some sugar with a little cinnamon and chai masala, spread it out onto a plate, dampen the rim of your cup (or glass) and dip it into the sugar. It’s crazy good and highly recommended, you’ll feel extra fancy i promise.
I couldn’t resist another swirling action shot with this one, it’s just so much fun, and this is a fun drink, so it deserved it. Now, don’t limit yourself to just apple cider here, or just having this hot! Pear would make a super fantastic hot masala cider, and just about any fruit would be good as a cold version of this (perfect for those of you in the southern hemisphere nearing summer.) You can chill this after steeping and straining, and have it cold (which is also ridiculously yum) and as the cinnamon thickens the cider a lot, it’s perfect for blending with ice to make a mind-blowingly good and simple slush/frappe….i mean, REALLY good. So good that it will probably make an appearance as such when summer starts here. So don’t fret my lovely southerners, you can enjoy this delight straight away. Now, go switch on that TV, dim the lights, start up the fireplace and ready your blanket folks, it’s time for some self-care! [you deserve this. you do. you wonderful person you]