Hot buttered apple juice
For this winter warmer I’ve used a gingerbread-spiced butter to enrich a gently simmering pan of apple juice. Use good-quality cloudy apple juice or freshly pressed apple juice for the best results and only add all the butter to the pan if you’re serving it all straight away. If you’re serving it individually over the course of a party, measure out 2 tablespoons of butter into a glass when you’re ready to serve and pour in around 100–150ml/3½–5¼fl oz warm apple juice. Stir to blend together, then grate over the nutmeg.
Ingredients
For the spiced butter
- 125g/4oz lightly salted butter, softened
- 110²µ/3¾´Ç³ú demerara sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
To serve
- 750ml/1â…“ pints cloudy or freshly pressed apple juice
- 30ml/1fl oz fresh lemon juice
- freshly grated nutmeg, to garnish
Method
To make the spiced butter, scoop the softened butter into a bowl and add the demerara sugar. Beat together with electric beaters until smoothly combined.
Add all the spices and beat again. Scoop into a tub, seal and store in the fridge until needed. The butter will keep in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
Pour the apple and lemon juices into a saucepan over a medium heat. Cover with a lid and gently warm for 5–6 minutes until steaming hot. Scoop the spiced butter into the pan and stir until dissolved (see above for instructions if you are not serving all at once). Ladle the buttered apple juice into mugs or heatproof glasses and grate over a little extra nutmeg to serve.