Hot Apple Cider: Sweet, Spiced, Citrus-infused, or Spiked?

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I think everyone who truly enjoys cooking likes most the potential for improvisation and improvement of a recipe or food combinations. It's the time of year for apple cider, and a perfect standard fall drink with which to have fun.

So we've got a basic drink: apple cider. Buy it in cartons, as a mix, or if you're in a do-it-yourself kind of mood, or went apple picking recently, or just have a lot of apples, click here to learn how to make your own apple cider.

The point here is that there are many ways to turn a basic apple cider recipe into your own, based on your preferences and what's in your kitchen.


For sweetness:

• honey
• maple syrup
• brown sugar

For flavor:

• cinnamon- sticks or a sprinkle of the dried spice
• cardamom
• cloves
• nutmeg
• ginger-tiny amounts of freshly grated or crystallized ginger (available at grocery stores)
• ground allspice
• a dash of other fruit juices: pear, orange, grapefruit
• berries, fresh or frozen
• citrus: lemon or orange peel (in dry spice form or actual grated)

These flavorings can be infused into your apple cider in a few ways:

1. Added and heated with the apple cider in a saucepan
2. Placed in loose tea strainer/filter (or within a cheesecloth if flavor sources are small enough) 
3. Heated in a pan with butter or cream to create a spiced topping
4. If only adding dry spices, whipped into whipped cream

Want to spike your apple cider? Remember to add alcohol at the end rather than heating it with the other ingredients. Recommendations:

• Brandy plus cinnamon, cardamom, curry powder. Rachael Ray version
• Rum, plus orange spice tea, apple cider, cinnamon, brown sugar, butter. Allrecipes.com version
• Bourbon, plus apple cider, orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, cinnamon sticks, allspice, cloves, brown sugar. Recipe from Recipehound.com 

Get creative! Now you have the know-how to make the exact mug of hot steaming apple cider you desire.