The Must-Have Mulled Wine Smoothie!

There’s nothing that gets me in the holiday spirit quite as much as a lovely cup of mulled wine! Here’s the old holiday classic made cold and smooth, in a few very quick and easy steps.

In Norway mulled wine it’s called “gløgg” and we serve it en mass throughout the holidays. Most people opt for the easy-out, and buy bottles of gløgg syrup in the shops, which can be easily mixed either with just hot water or wine, but you can also quite easily make your own!

In fact, it doesn’t get much easier than this; to make a batch of mulled wine syrup, you simply boil seasonal spices with orange peel, water and brown sugar. As the warming scent of seasonal spices fill the air, you simply can’t help but get in the right spirit!

How to make Mulled Wine:

1 whole aniseed
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
4 whole cardamom seeds
half of a nutmeg
the peel and juice of one whole orange
1/2 cup of soft brown sugar
3 cups of water

Simmer until it’s reduced to about half the liquid; about 15 minutes.

Mix the syrup with red or indeed white wine. Warm but don’t boil if you want to retain the alcohol, or boil for a couple of minutes to make it non-alcoholic.

Serve with chopped almonds and raisins for an authentic Scandinavian version!

To make the smoothie:

Cool the mulled wine and pour into an ice-cube tray
Once frozen, mix 4 mulled wine ice cubes in a blender with a cup of yoghurt (greek or strained dairy-free alternative)
Blend well until the ice cubes are completely mixed into the yoghurt.

Sprinkle some chopped nuts and raisins over top, along with orange zest for a festive twist!