Sunday, February 24, 2013

Improved heart-warmer in the winter cold

Last week I posted a lovely recipe for an Apple/Pear Punch. However, I realised it took quite a lot of work and a lot of ingredients. So I came up with a new version, like promised. It should be a lot easier for everyone to make!
I bought two massive bottles of (natural & fresh) juice and combined them like the previous recipe. I kept making a little at a time, but my sisters kept asking for it and I ended up using everything.

Ingredients:
1 cup applejuice (clouded)
1 cup pear juice
1-2 spoons vanilla essence
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick

1. Put everything in a pan together and heat it up. Leave to simmer for 5-10 minutes and serve! The longer you leave the juice to simmer, the ‘spicier’ it will become.
These 2 cups of juice are good for serving about 3-4 people. (Or 12 if you use tiny glasses)

I realise that even though I have a lot of free time now, starting my blog again is going very slow. For some reason I have been slacking like hell. Someone hit me! 


Anyway, enjoy! I promise to really try and be faster with my next post!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Warm your heart in the winter cold

Note: I've made a much easier version now you can find here. It's still just as healthy!

The weather outside is so gloomy here, I can feel my mood plummeting with it. But that won’t stop me from spending time in the kitchen. To cheer myself up I made a heartwarming drink I’ve had too much last Christmas vacation (although admittedly still not enough). My boyfriend would treat me over and over again to an alcohol-free alternative to Glühwein in the bitter cold of Vienna: Apfel/Birne Punsch.



There are no words that could explain the sweetness of it: the memory of a busy city in the cold and my boyfriend constantly looking after me. I had to try and replicate at least the drink. So after hours of searching the internet and not finding anything suitable, I took some hints of the recipe and created one of my own. Here’s what I came up with for the Apple/Pear Punch:

Ingredients:
5 apples
5 pears
200 ml water
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1. Start with peeling and chopping the apples and pears. Put them into a pan with 100 ml water and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
2. Bring the water to boil and then leave the apples and pears to simmer until they are soft. I used very ripe fruits and this only took me 20 minutes. 
3. Mash the fruits until you have a thick juice. Sieve the drink through a mesh or jam strainer to get the biggest bits out. (I left it to cool half an hour first)
4. Add the rest of the ingredients (water, anise, cinnamon and vanilla). Bring to boil for another 5-10 minutes and remove the spices. 
5. It's ready to drink now! In case you think it's still too thick: just keep adding water. 

At first I thought of adding some sugar as well. The drinks I had, although all of them slightly different, were very sweet. However I found the drink more than sweet enough without any sugar! The only thing that bothered me while testing this recipe is that it takes so many fruits to make just 3-5 glasses of punsch. Next time I'm buying biological apple and pear juice and maybe I'll add some of real pears and apples too.

While you're making this drink, let the sweet smell of fruit and spice take you away to whatever memories you have of winter days or nights. Let the drink warm you up inside while you huddle close to your family while it snows. Or, in case you never had spiced warm drinks for Christmas, create new memories! Are there any drinks you typically have during cold winter days that we can replicate?