Wassail cup
Serves: 12 (about 200ml per serving)
Prep time: 10 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Maja Smend
Wassail cup
This old English drink was traditionally enjoyed at Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night celebrations
Serves: 12 (about 200ml per serving)
Prep time: 10 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
200Kcal
Fat
0gr
Saturates
0gr
Carbs
30gr
Sugars
30gr
Fibre
0gr
Protein
0gr
Salt
0gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
For the baked apples
- 4 small apples
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
For the wassail
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 30g root ginger, sliced
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 8 whole cloves
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 2 litres apple cider
- 450ml port*
Step by step
Get ahead
Prepare the baked apples a few hours ahead, and put all the ingredients for the wassail in a large pan, ready to heat.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Core the apples, cut each one into four chunky rounds and put on a lined baking tray. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the apples. Bake for 25 minutes until the apples are soft and sticky. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- For the wassail, put the fruit slices, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and sugar in a pan. Add the cider and port and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and add the baked apples. Keep warm – a slow cooker is ideal for this.
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To serve, ladle the wassail into mugs or heatproof glasses.
*Check your port is suitable for vegans/vegetarians
