Yesterday marked the end of summer and the beginning of fall or autumn as some people say. For some of us, that means wonderful things. Holiday family time, pumpkins, leaves changing, sweaters and so much more. Living in Michigan, we're blessed with an amazing fall season. The weather is amazing, the leaves are vibrantly bright and we're blessed with the tastiest of apples. So, I figured why not commemorate the start of fall the right way with some homemade apple cider. It's much easier to make than you think and it's a lot tastier than the store-bought version. Give this a try yourself.
Wash your apples and oranges really well.
Cut the oranges in quarters. Cut a few of the apples in half and place them all back in the stockpot.
Pour cold water into your pot leaving about 2" of space at the top. Add in your spices. I'm using whole cinnamon sticks and cloves along with ground nutmeg.
Place the pot over medium-high to high heat and cook until the water begins to simmer. Once it begins to simmer, lower the heat to medium-low heat and cook for two hours.
Once the fruit is soft enough after about an hour and a half, take the pot off the heat and begin to gently mash the fruit to release more of their juices. Place the pot back over the heat and cook for another twenty minutes.
Once the cider is done cooking, pour the liquid through a cheesecloth or layered paper towels place over a fine-mesh strainer placed over a large bowl or mason jar. At this point, you can add your sweetener and mix. I'm adding some brown sugar and a bit of vanilla extract. You can also use maple syrup instead. Mix this thoroughly to combine.
Allow the mixture to cool slightly before enjoying warm or refrigerate covered and enjoy cool.
Homemade Apple Cider
Yield:
48 oz
Cook Time:
2 hours
Total Time:
2 hours
Homemade Apple Cider
Ingredients
- 10 baking apples (I used granny smith and gala)
- 5 cinnamon sticks
- 2 large oranges
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg or 1 whole nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 48 oz water or enough to leave about 2" of the pot from the top.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup light brown sugar (You can add more or less depending on how sweet you like it. You can also sub in maple syrup instead.
Instructions
- Wash your apples and oranges really well.
- Cut the oranges in quarters. Cut a few of the apples in half and place them all back in the stockpot.
- Pour cold water into your pot leaving about 2" of space at the top. Add in your spices. I'm using whole cinnamon sticks and cloves along with ground nutmeg.
- Place the pot over medium-high to high heat and cook until the water begins to simmer. Once it begins to simmer, lower the heat to medium-low heat and cook for two hours.
- Once the fruit is soft enough after about an hour and a half, take the pot off the heat and begin to gently mash the fruit to release more of their juices. Place the pot back over the heat and cook for another twenty minutes.
- Once the cider is done cooking, pour the liquid through a cheesecloth or layered paper towels place over a fine-mesh strainer placed over a large bowl or mason jar. At this point, you can add your sweetener and mix. I'm adding some brown sugar and a bit of vanilla extract. You can also use maple syrup instead. Mix this thoroughly to combine.
- Allow the mixture to cool slightly before enjoying warm or refrigerate covered and enjoy cool.
Notes
This is best served within the first few days but will last up to a week covered in the fridge.
You can use any warm spices you'd like in addition to or in place of what I've recommended.
You can serve cider warm or cold.
