Warm your heart in the winter cold

The weather outside is so gloomy here, I can feel my mood plummeting with it. To cheer myself up I made a heartwarming drink I’ve had too much last Christmas vacation (although admittedly still not enough). My boyfriend would treat me over and over again to an alcohol-free alternative to Glühwein in the bitter cold of Vienna: Apfel/Birne Punsch.

After designing a recipe that involved real apples and pears and hours of work, I came up with a new version. It's a lot easier to make and saves a lot of time. All you need is two massive bottles of (natural & fresh) juice. I kept making a little punsch at a time, but both my sisters kept asking for more and I ended up using all the juice just for the punsch.

Apple & Pear Punch
serves 3-4 people (or 12 tiny glasses)

1 cup apple juice (clouded)
1 cup pear juice
1-2 spoons vanilla essence
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick

1. Put everything in a pan together and heat it up. Leave to simmer for 5-10 minutes and serve! The longer you leave the juice to simmer, the ‘spicier’ it will become.

I realize that even though I have a lot of free time now, starting my blog again is going very slow. For some reason I have been slacking like hell. Someone hit me! 

 

Special thanks to my sister for posing for this last picture!