In my teen years, I lived with my parents and younger sister on a beautiful piece of property in western Wisconsin that overlooked the Black River, a tributary to the Mississippi River. Our house sat on about eight acres of land that consisted of forest, gardens and a small orchard. Every fall, we would pick the apples from the orchard and press the fruit, using a steam extractor. We’d then can the juice for safe keeping and enjoy it all winter long.
Fresh juice is incredibly good, but instead of making huge batches for winter storage, I cook up a small batch as a treat when apple season is peaking. Instead of an extractor, I use my crockpot and add spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. Here’s how you do it.
Wash, peel, core and roughly chop 8 apples. Add apples to the crockpot along with 4 cups of cold water, 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, two cinnamon sticks and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg. Cook on low for about 4 hours or until the apples are really soft and have released their juices.
Carefully ladle juice into a nut milk bag that is positioned over a large bowl to catch the juice. A nut milk bag makes this process super easy; I highly recommend this one. If you do not have a nut milk bag, a fine mesh strainer will work too. Once juice and pulp have been ladled into the bag, let the mixture cool until you can safely handle it. At that point, strain juice into the bowl and discard the pulp. Taste the cider. Depending on the apples used, you may want to add a bit of honey to your cider to sweeten it.
This cider is delicious warm or cold, and for the adults, this cider makes for a great cocktail. Just add one ounce of bourbon (I use Makers Mark) to 8 ounces of cider, garnish with a dehydrated apple and enjoy.
Apple Cider
Ingredients
- 8 apples
- 4 cups cold water
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 3 tbsps. honey
Instructions
- Wash, peel, core and roughly chop 8 apples.
- Add apples to the crockpot along with 4 cups of cold water, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, two cinnamon sticks and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg.
- Cook on low for about 4 hours or until the apples are really soft and have released their juices.
- Carefully ladle juice into a nut milk bag that is positioned over a large bowl to catch the juice.
- Allow mixture cool for about 15 minutes before handling.
- Strain juice into the bowl and discard pulp. Taste the cider and add honey if desired.
- Serve warm or cold.
- For a great cocktail, mix 8 ounces of cider with one ounce of bourbon (I use Makers Mark), garnish with a dehydrated apple and enjoy.
