Cheat mulled wine

So tonight I was craving comfort food - something rich and warm.  Even though my dear husband had made me a scrummy Margherita pizza I wanted something else - specifically warmed cider or Nutella mug cake.  In the absence of appropriate ingredients (ie cider or Nutella) I remembered the quarter bottle of merlot in the kitchen.  Brainwave!  Mulled wine!

I have made mulled wine before for a party.  Done properly it involves lemon rind, fresh spices, even fresh apple.  Given the lack of appropriate fresh fruit I did my usual thing and cheated experimented.  Here's what I used (all measurements very approximate!).

Cheat Mulled Wine
Approx 3 servings.


1 cup of apple juice
1 squirt lemon juice (I always have a bottle in the fridge)
Half a cinnamon stick (or just powdered cinnamon)
Quarter teaspoon of ground cloves (or real cloves - I swear I have a bottle but couldn't find it...)
1 Star Anise (optional)
1 cup wine


Heat apple juice, lemon juice and spices in a small saucepan and simmer for 5-10 mins
Add wine, heat until warm (best not to boil!)
Serve in an appropriately thick vessel (it cools rapidly in a wine glass).  I didn't have an appropriate flagon so I used a green tea cup (sacrilege I know).

It wasn't too bad - warm and rich just like I wanted.  Not super sweet - you could add sugar to the juice if you want it sweeter.  You could also add more cinnamon or cloves to make it spicier.  I added the star anise because I thought the licorice flavour would be nice, which it was.  You could substitute nutmeg instead.