Mulled Wine Ice Cubes

Spices used to make traditional mulled wine are delicious – a sweet combination of citrus, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla. If only it weren’t 35 degrees in the shade in our Aussie holidays, we might actually enjoy this brew! The happy fact is, this is Australia. When the French serve a red wine at room temperature, they mean 17, not 40 degrees!

So instead of keeping your bottle in the fridge – coz that’s not ideal either – try these yummy, sweet, lightly spiced ice cubes instead. For a refreshing all-ages punch, use 1 part grape juice to 1 part soda water or lemonade, and add as many of these as you can be bothered to produce.

The new taste of summer! – Em

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 tbsp. brown sugar,
• ½ cinnamon stick,
• About 5-6 whole cloves,
• vanilla bean, or 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence,
• 1 lemon, quartered and thinly sliced,
• 1 orange quartered and thinly sliced,
• 1 cup of water

METHOD

1. Place water and sugar in a small saucepan.
2. Heat slowly while stirring to dissolve sugar.
3. Simmer gently, without stirring, for 5-10 minutes.
4. Cool in a saucepan for about an hour.
5. For chunky ice (remember – once this stuff has defrosted, it’ll all be floating in your drink…) tip everything into ice cube trays. It pays to be mindful of even spice and slice distribution among the moulds. One ice cube with 7 cloves in it… You only make that mistake once.
6. If you don’t love the pulpy bits, strain the mix through a mesh sieve, cheesecloth or tea strainer before pouring into ice cube trays.
7. Freeze until solid.