Around here we’re slowly starting to get into the Christmas spirit. The tree is up, most gifts are sorted and the turkey is on order. With Christmas now only 14 sleeps away we thought it would be fun to share one of our personal Christmas traditions with you.
Every year we host a few pre-Christmas drinks for friends and family and this delicious Christmas drink recipe is the reason that people turn up! Don’t worry, we’re not suddenly stopping DIY and turning into a foodie blog, but this recipe is just too good to not share. It’s a kind of mulled wine and even people who don’t usually like mulled wine love this one.
It’s called Feuerzangenbowle (which roughly translates to fire tongue punch) and it’s a mixture of classic mulled wine with the addition of a rum-soaked sugar which is set on fire.
It’s the best mulled wine recipe, it’s super easy to make and is great for parties as it looks impressive, too.
This is what you’ll need:
- 4l ready made mulled wine (or 3l of cheap red wine and 1l of orange juice)
- Rum (minimum 54% – it won’t work otherwise)
- 1-2 Cinnamon sticks
- 2-3 Anis stars
- 1 Orange – sliced into disks
- 2 Lemons – rind only
- Sugar cone (I’ve seen them in some shops a few times, this is essentially what you’ll need)
- Sugar tongues (these are the sugar tongs
that we have) - Large pan
- Lighter
This is how to make it:
Pour the mulled wine (or wine & orange juice) into the pan. Add the spices, orange slices and lemon rind. There’s no need to be too precise with the quantities – ours varies slightly every time. Then warm everything over a gentle heat until it’s hot. Don’t allow it to boil.
In the mean time, place your sugar tongues onto a plate and lay the sugar cone on top. Slowly drizzle over the rum using a spoon and let it soak into the sugar.
It will take a while, but you have to do it slowly or the sugar will dissolve. Keep adding rum until the sugar cone can’t soak up any more but still keeps it’s shape. It’s important to use a high percentage rum as it won’t burn otherwise.
Place the sugar tongue and rum soaked sugar cone over the pan. Dim the lights and light the cone. Needless to say, you have to be extremely careful.
The cone will slowly burn and the caramelised rum-sugar mixture will slowly drip into the pan. (Sometimes it’ll take a few goes to get it lit, but it will eventually all drip into the pan.)
When the cone has completely melted, give the Feuerzangenbowle a quick stir and ladle into some cups. Enjoy!
It may seem excessive to add the rum and sugar to the mixture, but I promise that the result is so worth it! Once you’ve tried this best mulled wine recipe ever, you’ll never go back!
Do you have any holiday traditions? Do you have a favourite festive drink? What’s your favourite time of year?
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