Saturday, November 30, 2013

WINE MULLS....THE PERFECT HOME MADE GIFT!

Mulled wine is truly a unique holiday wine drinking experience and wine mulls are probably my favorite thing to make and give at Christmas.   These are so easy to make and one mull with a bottle of red wine, makes a perfectly elegant and inexpensive gift.

I have been known to keep a basket of them by the front door to give to holiday visitors and party guests.  So lovely, don't you think?
Guess what?  If you have friends who don't drink alcohol, these are perfectly wonderful in warm apple cider as well. 

The following recipe makes just two mulls, but it is as easy to make 10 or 12.  Just multiply the ingredients accordingly.

Wine Mulls
1 med. orange
1/2 C. firmly packed light brown sugar 

1tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
2 (2") cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves


Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Cut orange in half lengthwise and scoop out pulp. Place a ball of aluminum foil in each half.  (This helps distribute the heat evenly as well as helps the orange half keep its circular shape as it's drying.)  Place halves on baking sheet and dry in oven 4-5 hours. Remove foil and dry an additional 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, allspice and nutmeg. Pack half of the mixture into each orange half. Decorate tops with cinnamon stick placed down the center (press into brown sugar a bit) and place 3 coves on each side. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, tie top with a pretty ribbon and include the following Mulled Wine recipe.


Mulled Wine
1 wine mull
1 (750 ml.) bottle of red wine
Pour wine into pan. Unwrap mull and drop into pan with wine. Heat through. (Do not boil.)


I made this tag, hole punched it and tied it to the top of the mull wrap with pretty ribbon.
A few notes on making these wine mulls.....
I juiced my orange halves and then scooped out the pulp.
(Bonus!  Fresh squeezed orange juice to drink while you are making these.  I recommend adding a little vodka to that juice!)
The orange halves shrink a lot and get hard and dark orange when drying out.  Don't freak out.
Dry time depends on the size of the oranges.  I used medium sized oranges and it took about 4 hours. 
I made the aluminum foil balls big enough to fill up about half the space in side the orange.  
I used a Dremel to cut my cinnamon sticks to make them fit perfectly inside the orange half.



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38 comments:

  1. I have never heard of wine mulls before but after reading your post, I want to try it asap !

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  2. These look like a great gift idea. I had never heard of this before...thanks for sharing. :)

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  3. GENIUS! And hello....of course all my friends drink alcohol....

    -andi

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  4. How pretty! Thank you for the directions! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

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  5. I love this Danni. Pinned it too! I mostly love vodka and orange so when that part of the recipe was mentioned I knew I would have to start today! HAHA Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Thanks so much for the recipe. I love mulled wine and usually just buy a mix. I'l be giving this a try and sharing with my Sis, too!
    Hugs,
    Patti

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  7. Never heard of mulled wine and this sounds really delicious! I have friends who drink lots of wine and this would make a great hostess gift! Thanks so much, Danni!

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  8. Funnily enough Danni I made mulled wine at work today. The artists studios next to the café had made a grotto and invited Santa, and there were also some carol singers, so I thought I'd better do something Christmassy ! I've never actually made a mull though (I just threw everything in and sieved it after warming through) but this is a great idea and a lovely gift for anybody.

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  9. We would totally love this on a cold winter evening! Sounds delicious!!

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  10. This is brilliant. What great directions and tips. I bet the house smells amazing while making it too!

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  11. What a fantastic idea Danni - you are so awesome! I want to come for Christmas ;-)

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  12. Hi Danni! I absolutely love these and what a great idea! How you put them together is pretty, too. Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying your weekend!

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  13. ooh so pretty, you know I have never had mulled wine, no real holidays in our winter, I know sad for me!

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  14. What a great idea - trying it today! Thanks for sharing.

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  15. So do I drink the wine warm or let it cool?

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  16. I know I've had mulling spices in apple cider before and it was wonderful!! I could drink it all day. Never tried it in wine, nor did I know what a mull was. Great gift idea or a family tradition project, and it's so pretty in that see-thru package!!

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  17. I love this idea. Apple cider for me though. =)

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  18. Such a pretty presentation. I have served Wasa before which is similar and smells wonderful. We kind of default into Mimosas for brunch Christmas day though:}

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  19. I also have never heard of wine mulls until I read this................

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  20. Wow, these are beautiful and new to me. What a great creative gift for anyone. I think they're gorgeous on your porch. You never cease to amaze... :-)

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  21. This sounds and looks so yummy! I'm going to share your link on my Facebook page! Am a new follower as well :)

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  22. What a great idea! I am sure they would be great with apple cider or juice too for my non drinking friends!

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  23. I have never tried mulled wine, but this looks like a delicious and lovely gift! I will be pinning this so I can try it, and maybe give a few to friends. Thanks for sharing, Danni
    Debbie :)

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  24. Hi Danni, Brilliant! I have a friend I used to make dried orange slices with, then we used them to tie to packages and decorate, this reminds me of those good times:) Will at least have to make this for her.
    I love the non-drinkers version, however, I don't have any friends who are non-drinkers, haha! Di@CookTheTV

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  25. ummmm...YUM! And so pretty. I love that you make a bunch and keep them by your door to give as impromptu gifts. Look at you, so on top of things. Glad you also mentioned how the orange changes. I'm sure I'd freak and think I'd ruined it.

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  26. Did not know what a mull was so I came over. I do not drink wine, but I imagine this would be great in hot tea! Great hostess gift idea.

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  27. Ya gotta love a woman that uses her Dremel in the kitchen.

    I'm making these! Ooh, the smell of orange, and cloves, and cinnamon! My favorites.

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  28. These are perfectly awesome Danni! Hope all is not overwhelming now and that you had a great trip!

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  29. These are so cute!!! What a great gift!

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  30. I love this wine mulls gift idea! I featured you this week on my top ten picks at Boogieboard Cottage. Have a blessed week, Mary

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  31. I'm back and I am making this for a hostess gift for Christmas this year. I think I will practice first on myself though. I pinned this last year and then I didn't go back to my board......I just wrote it out on a post it and will make a few labels today! Cheers Danni!

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  32. Oh, how I've missed your sweet, useful, elegant crafting ideas! So glad you're back to blogging.



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