From the Pantry: Mulling Spices
Take a sip of a steaming cup of mulled wine and you’re greeted with the warmth of mulling spices, an aromatic heat that works its way from the tip of your nose to your toes.
As long as there has been wine, there has been mulled wine, a hearth-warmed, well-spiced drink that, for centuries, everyone from the ancient Greeks to the Vikings enjoyed during the chilly winter months. The wine itself was not so important—in fact, the starter for mulled wine was often unpalatable and bitter. What transformed the simple vino into the magical hot brew was a highly aromatic spice blend and, occasionally, sugar. This alchemical mix of mulling spices has varied widely over the years, from age to age and culture to culture. Here, we trace it from its dubious medicinal origins to its sweet future as baking spice extraordinaire.
In ancient Rome, a mulled wine recipe might have been spiced with saffron and bay leaves and sweetened with dates. But once the Venetians began their extensive trade with the Ottoman Empire in the 13th century, the spice blend began to feature a modern mix of usual suspects—cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and black pepper. The Romans brought it to the conquered Germanic and Celtic peoples, and they, in turn, transformed it into their own hot spiced wine traditions. In Germany, glühwein (which translates to “glow wine”) is heavy on the cloves, cinnamon, and oranges, though allspice and star anise occasionally make the cut. Throughout Scandinavia, you can expect glogg, a mulled punch comprised of wine, rum, and bourbon, plus oodles of cardamom, the Nordic spice of choice. One of the oldest ancestors of plain mulled wine is hippocras, a medieval favorite that was regarded as both a delicious drink and a miraculous health tonic—a lofty claim, though many spices, like ginger, clove, and cinnamon, have anti-inflammatory properties.
An apple cider spinoff of mulled wine enjoyed in the British Isles, wassail also makes use of sugar and mulling spices. Drinking a cup represents celebrating a successful apple harvest or, for our more modern age, hoping for a personally bountiful new year (the word comes from the Middle English toast wæs hæil, or “be in good health”). Wassail has spawned the act of—what else?—wassailing, a singing and drinking spectacle that resembles a more boisterous version of caroling. It also inspired our Mulled Apple Coffee Cake. In the 17th and 18th centuries, dried and fresh citrus became a common addition to the mix as Europeans gained regular access to oranges, lemons, and limes.
It’s no surprise that mulling spices help create liquid cheer, but how exactly can it elevate your baking? Much like the pumpkin pie, chai, and Chinese five-spice blends, mulling spices are an incredibly versatile pantry staple that bring out the best in everything, from fall fruit pastries like apple pie to creamy, custardy desserts like cheesecake. First, consider adding mulling spices to poaching liquids. If you’re poaching pears, figs, or apples, add some of the blend to the mix. If reducing wine or port into a reduction glaze, like for our Mulled Wine Brownies, add mulling spices while cooking it down so they punctuate the fruity flavor of the reduction.
A mulling spices-infused simple syrup is also an easy and rewarding baking staple to have on hand. Melt 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar in 1 cup (240 grams) water, and steep 1 tablespoon (6 grams) mulling spices in the liquid for 30 minutes. Refrigerate, and add it to buttercreams or cocktails, or brush it directly onto baked cake layers to create a more tender and flavorful cake. A sachet of the blend can add pronounced holiday warmth to custards like crème anglaise or to a homemade jam or jelly like tart cranberry jam.
With ground mulling spices, the sky’s the limit. Incorporate a pinch of it into your fillings, frostings, and glazes to bring the spice right to the forefront of a dessert. Pop the blend into your everyday shortbread to give it a touch of warm whimsy, or use it to introduce complex heat to a standard peanut butter cookie. Toss the spice blend with your sliced apples and pears in your favorite pie recipe. Sprinkle it in with a final dusting of confectioners’ sugar, giving your simple cakes a soft sense of spice. Finally, just stir it into a cake batter to create a sophisticated spice cake, or add it directly to streusel for a new spin on the usual cinnamon-based swirl.
Why the romantic association of mulled wine and Christmas? Look no further than Charles Dickens. The great British author was such a fan of Smoking Bishop, a mulled wine-and-port cocktail, that it made its way into his holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. A newly reformed Ebenezer Scrooge offers Smoking Bishop to his employee, Bob Cratchit. The mulled drink is a rich gift for the impoverished Cratchit and is one more tangible example of Scrooge’s transformation from miser to merry-maker. In other words, mulled wine and its signature spice blend have become an enduring symbol of yuletide generosity. Anything that tastes of it has a taste of that giving spirit.
THE MANY MULLING SPICES
Depending on the variation, a mulling spice blend can contain any or all of the following spices. Here’s a little background on each of the aromatic ingredients.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon is the dried inner bark of a cinnamon tree. Once cut from the tree, it’ll curl up as it dries, forming its signature coiled stick shape. A popular spice since the time of ancient Egypt, cinnamon is often featured in mulling spice recipes and is one of the predominate flavors.
Nutmeg: The seed of a Myristica fragrans, nutmeg was not as commonly used in medieval recipes for mulled wine because of its rarity and steep price. Once it became readily available in the 19th century, many home cooks gladly added it into the mix.
Clove: An extremely pungent spice, clove is the dried, undeveloped flower bud of a tree in the myrtle family. Because clove has such strong aromatic oils and compounds—its concentrated oil is often used in numbing mouthwash—it should be added in conservative doses to spice mixes.
Allspice: So called because it contains the aromatic qualities of several spices (clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg) in one, allspice is the dried whole berry of Pimenta dioica, a canopy tree found in the Caribbean and Central America. It packs a powerful punch and should be used sparingly.
Star anise: Bringing the much-desired note of licorice to the mulling spice mix, the multipointed star anise is the pericarp of the fruit of the Illicium verum tree found in China and Vietnam. An essential ingredient in Chinese five-spice powder, star anise can be simmered whole in a poaching liquid or ground into a powder.
Peppercorns: Though you may consider peppercorns a strictly savory spice, black pepper has had a long history as the hot counterpart to many sweet-smelling spice mixes. Freshly ground or popped whole into a mulling mix, peppercorns will add warmth without competing with the stronger spices.
Cardamom: One of the most common ingredients found in mulling spice mixes, cardamom has often been dubbed “the queen of spices,” and for good reason. An essential ingredient to chai spice mixes, cardamom can be simmered in liquid whole or added to spice mixes as ground seeds.
Ginger: Original recipes for mulling spice mixes featured many relatives of ginger, from grains of paradise to galangal. Today, fresh ginger is more commonly used in the cooking of mulling spices (it will mellow and sweeten once heated), while ground ginger is used in the powdered blends. Keep in mind that ground ginger is more pungent than fresh.
Citrus: As essential to the mulling mix as any spice, citrus, particularly orange or lemon, brings a note of contrary tartness and acidity to the sweetened wine and aromatic spices, cutting through all the rich flavors for a bright, balanced finish.
GIFT IT!
BAKE WITH MULLING SPICES
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