Old English Wassail with Roasted Apples

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The oldest party punch in the English-speaking world, made properly: apples roasted with brown sugar until they collapse, then floated in a bowl of spiced cider, brown ale and sherry that's held just below a simmer so the spice stays fragrant and the alcohol stays put. The apple pulp gives the surface a woolly foam — the reason it was once called lamb's wool. Scale it up, keep it warm on the stove or in a slow cooker, and let people ladle their own.

Ingredients

• 6 small tart apples, such as Granny Smith or Braeburn
• 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
• 1/4 cup water

• 8 cups fresh unfiltered apple cider
• 1 cup unsweetened cranberry or pomegranate juice (optional, for color and tartness)
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 12 whole cloves
• 8 allspice berries
• 4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 1 whole nutmeg, for grating (or 1/2 tsp ground)
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, sliced into coins
• 2 strips orange zest, removed with a peeler
• 1 lemon, sliced into thin rounds
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

• 24 oz English-style brown ale or amber ale (two 12-oz bottles), or substitute hard cider
• 1 cup dry or medium sherry, such as amontillado (or brandy, or dark rum)
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• Orange slices and extra cinnamon sticks, for the bowl

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Core the apples from the stem end with a paring knife or apple corer, leaving the bottoms intact, and score a shallow ring around the middle of each so the skins don't burst raggedly. Stand them in a baking dish, pack the cavities with the 3 tablespoons brown sugar and a piece of butter each, and pour the water around them.
2. Roast for 40 to 50 minutes, basting once or twice with the pan syrup, until the apples are completely tender, slumped and lightly browned. Set aside; leave the oven syrup in the dish.
3. Meanwhile, toast the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice and cardamom in a dry large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat for 60 to 90 seconds, until you can smell them clearly. Do not let them scorch.
4. Pour in the apple cider and cranberry juice, then add the 1/3 cup brown sugar, ginger, orange zest strips, lemon rounds, a generous 10 to 12 gratings of nutmeg and the pinch of salt. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat — you want small bubbles at the edge, about 190°F — then reduce the heat to low.
5. Steep at 180 to 190°F for 30 minutes, never letting it boil. Boiling turns the cider flat and the cloves harsh. Taste and add a little more brown sugar if your cider is very tart.
6. Fish out and discard the lemon rounds and ginger coins (leave the cinnamon and orange zest for looks). Pour in the brown ale slowly down the side of the pot to keep the foam under control, then add the sherry. Bring back to 160 to 165°F — hot to the lip, steaming, but well below a simmer — over medium-low heat, 5 to 8 minutes.
7. Scoop the flesh from 2 of the roasted apples, discarding the skins, and whisk it into the pot along with any syrup from the baking dish. Whisk hard for 20 seconds: the pulp will froth the surface into the pale foam that gave this drink its old name.
8. Stir in the lemon juice, taste, and adjust with a splash more sherry or sugar. Transfer to a warmed punch bowl or a slow cooker set to Warm. Float the remaining 4 roasted apples on top with orange slices and cinnamon sticks, and ladle into mugs.
9. Keep the bowl or cooker between 150 and 165°F for serving. If the level drops, top up with hot cider rather than water.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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