Warm Spiced Cider by Maya Corrigan #Halloween #Recipe

Spiced cider is the perfect drink for Halloween parties or other autumn gatherings. . . and for sipping while you snuggle up with a cozy mystery. Sometimes called mulled apple cider, it’s made the same way as mulled wine. Both are simmered in a crock pot or on the stove with spices and citrus for flavor. Adding brandy to the basic recipe gives you spiked spiced cider. Try saying that five times quickly. 😊

Ingredients

½ gallon unfiltered apple cider
2 cinnamon sticks
10 whole cloves

5 allspice berries  

1 oz. orange juice
Sliced oranges and/or cinnamon sticks for garnish

Optional: 1 oz. orange or apple brandy (added after the cider has been heated)

  

To test the recipe, I cut the quantities in half, making enough for one or two. For a large group, it's easy to double or triple the recipe. In that case, you'll want to wrap the spices in cheesecloth and tie it so you don't have to strain the cider after heating it. Since I was making half the recipe, it was easy for me to use a hand strainer to remove the spices.

Put the apple cider, juice, and spices in a large pot or Dutch oven. 

Heat to the point of boiling. The cider will foam as it heats, but that subsides after a while. 

Simmer the cider on the stove for 1 hour and enjoy the fragrance of apple and spices. If you use a slow cooker or crock pot, turn it to low and cook for 3 hours. 

Turn off the heat and remove the spices from the pot, straining if necessary. 

Add brandy for the alcoholic version of the cider.

Serve the cider warm, garnished with orange slices and/or a cinnamon stick in each cup.

Sipping cider while you read a Halloween mystery makes for a perfect autumn evening. 

Sipping cider while reading a Halloween mystery is ideal for an autumn evening. 

READERS: What's your favorite autumn beverage?

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In the sixth Five-Ingredient Mystery, Crypt Suzette, cafe manager Val caters the Halloween party and costume contest at a bookshop. The contestants include the Fictionistas, a creative writing group started by the secretive Suzette, who rents a room from Granddad. When she's found dead of an apparent accident, Val and Granddad suspect foul play, especially after reading Suzette's manuscript for a murder mystery in which the suspects resemble the Fictionistas. Did one of them kill Suzette or was her death rooted in the past she tried to escape?

"Granddad is a hoot to live with, and his jobs as a food reviewer and part-time detective provide endless possibilities for fun and murder...Charming." — Kirkus Review

"This was an intricately plotted murder mystery with all sorts of interesting twists that made the matter of Suzette's death a real whodunit." — Criminal Element

Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mystery series. It features a young cafe manager and her young-at-heart grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes. Maya has taught college courses in writing, literature, and detective fiction. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.

Visit her website for book news, mystery history and trivia, and easy recipes. Sign up for her newsletter there. She gives away a free book to one subscriber each time she sends out a newsletter. Follow her on Facebook.

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