It’s Martha Monday again and this week’s choice was Warm Vanilla Cider, from October Martha Stewart Living, chosen by Teresa at HomemadeIowaLife.
I have to admit, this is something I never would have made were it not chosen for today’s project. This is really a dessert drink more than anything else.
I cheated a little with this recipe, so please forgive me. You heat cider (6 c) with brown sugar (1/2 c) and 2 whole nutmegs (I used ground nutmeg) and the scraped seeds from a vanilla bean (I used vanilla extract). You simmer for 15 min. You serve it with whipped cream (I made my own – points for me) and honeyed walnuts. I made honeyed pecans instead (very simple – toss them with honey and roast for 15 min – I actually stuck mine in the microwave, which was faster as long as you keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn).
Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to like this, but it turns out I did! It was sweet and creamy and the nuts are to die for. This is something you could make on a cold winter afternoon to enjoy in front of the fire, or for after skiing (I didn’t say “apres ski” since I always find that to sound so pretentious!).
Here’s the funny thing though. Mr. MarthaAndMe, who LOVES vanilla and also really likes cider, did not like this. He didn’t even finish it. He’s weird about hot drinks and says he could not drink it because in his mind cider is not supposed to be hot (this is the same man who cannot fathom cold soups, so I suppose it is not surprising). Teen Martha liked this though. This was something fun and different and I enjoyed it!
You can follow any comment to this entry through the RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Sounds heavenly. I’m going to have to try this one!
I liked it too, and 2 of the 3 kids liked it as well. I didn’t add the whipped cream, but now wishing that I did!
I liked it too Brette. This was a good choice, and the perfect thing to have at the start of autumn.
The whipped cream really gave it a nice taste and consistency. It really felt like a dessert, especially if you used a spoon to get the nuts.
I sort of made this. I did the same cheats you did with the nutmeg and vanilla. But I didn’t even do the whipped cream and nuts. We had company over and that was just too much for me to handle. We had a bunch of drink choices, and no one but me chose the cider. I loved it though. I added a little bit of bourbon, and thought it was a very nice fall drink.
My father always used to make mulled cider and mulled wine for winter parties and I always loved the smell as a kid. This reminded me of that.
That does remind me of mulled cider. It is difficult to find cider around here, I haven’t seen it yet. I have a hard time paying the high price for it too. In Michigan we’d bring our empty jug to the market and fill it up for pennys (ok maybe not pennys, but pretty cheap). My daughter won’t drink it either so it really goes to waste. Sounds like a wonderful dessert.
Where are you located? When I was a kid, we used to go to a cider mill to get ours every fall. It was a special outing and they always had free samples! Now I just buy it at the grocery store.
I thought it was a great chocice and we liked it. The whip cream and nuts did turn it into a dessert but my teen drank the rest of it cold for breakfast. Autumn in a glass. Bet it was great with that extea little kick! 😉
I’m in Sarasota Florida. It’s supposed to be in the 90s this week!
This was yummy! Thanks for encouraging us to try it. I might not have noticed it in the magazine otherwise.
adding the sugar might be too sweet for me, but I like the idea of adding vanilla to hot cider…I’ll have to experiment
When my dad makes mulled cider, I don’t think he adds sugar, just different spices, so approaching it from that point of view works I think.
Oh Brette, this looks lovely. I will definitely try that, though I’ll have to find a fireplace somewhere to get the full experience. 🙂
I also recommend some fall leaves blowing around.