Apfelpunsch Spice Mix
I love giving hand made gifts. This ‘Apfelpunsch’ (Apple Punch) Spice Mix is quick to throw together, and makes a cute gift. You can pair it with a bottle of nice apple juice to make the gift a bit more substantial. Of course, you can also just make some for yourself – I love drinking this in Autumn, at Christmas and in Winter.
Ingredients
- 300g golden caster sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- a few star anise
Directions
Mix the sugar and ground spices together until well combined. Decant in to sterilised jars, and stick a couple of star anise in each jar to infuse. This recipe is enough for two small jars, but you can scale it up if you want to gift bigger jars or make more jars.
I reused old jars, which make it even more of a sustainable gift. I soaked it in hot water before sterilising, to remove the labels, and cut our circles of coloured paper to cover the lids. You can also buy brand new empty jam jars of course if you prefer.
I created some labels in Canva, which you can download below for personal use. The fits standard jars with a circumference of around 26cm, give or take a little (the design doesn’t go all the way to the edge, so you adjust the size a little by overlapping the edge).
How to use the Spice Mix
Mix 2/3 of good quality apple juice (I prefer cloudy) with 1/3 of water, or ginger tea also makes a great alternative and adds extra flavour.
Add 1 Tbsp of spice mix per litre of liquid, along with a couple of fresh orange slices.
Warm over a low heat for 15-20 mins to let the flavours infuse. Do not let it boil!
Serve warm in mugs.
For a quick single portion, mix a scant 1/2 tsp of spice mix with some apple juice in a mug and heat up in the microwave.
Optional extras:
- For grown ups who drink alcohol, you can add a shot of rum.
- At Christmas markets in Germany, hot Punsch often gets served with whipped cream on top.
