What could be nicer than preparing a hot cup of mulled wine or fruit punch for yourself at home during the cold season. But can you do that in the microwave, too?
Of course you can, and very well in fact, if you keep a few basic things in mind.
It is important that the mulled wine does not boil. The perfect temperature for mulled wine is around 72°C. From 78°C, the alcohol, an important flavour carrier, boils away. If you heat it further, the fruit flavour also changes. Overheated mulled wine tastes bland and bitter.
So it comes down to setting the right time on the microwave. But the right power level is also important. Microwaves only penetrate liquids a few centimetres deep, the rest is heated indirectly by convection. If you simply choose the highest power setting, the mulled wine will boil at the edge of the cup, while it is still relatively cold in the middle of the cup. At lower power levels, the heat can distribute more evenly in the drink.
So let’s set out to find the right recipe for our microwave.
It is important to have the same starting conditions as much as possible. The mulled wine should therefore always be at the same room or fridge temperature before preparation, and it is best to always use the same (and of course microwave-safe) cups.
The recipe for my microwave: 2 glass cups of room-temperature mulled wine at 0.2 litres each, 440 watts, 4:30 minutes.
With this recipe as a starting point, you can now find the right power and time for your microwave. You prepare the mulled wine, take it out of the microwave and check the temperature with a tea or cooking thermometer. If the mulled wine is too cold, you increase the preparation time by a few seconds next time. If it gets too hot, you reduce the time. If the mulled wine tastes overcooked, you reduce the power or the time slightly. (Please do not put the thermometer in the microwave!)
If you are only preparing one glass, the time is roughly halved. For four glasses, it doubles. But that is only a rule of thumb. It is worth finding the optimal time setting for other quantities through trial and error as well.
Once you have found your recipe, your microwave will prepare the perfect mulled wine practically by itself. You don’t have to constantly stir and monitor the temperature like on the stove, but simply wait for the beep.
Important: Never heat bottles, cans, beverage cartons or sealed containers in this way, but always only single cup portions.
A speciality in Barbados is the Rum Punch. Ice-cold, it is a refreshing drink.
The Recipe
If you ask a Bajan for the recipe for the punch, they will recite the following rhyme:
One of sour,
Two of sweet,
Three of strong,
Four of weak.
The recipe for one glass accordingly looks like this:
- 1 cl lime juice (ideally freshly squeezed)
- 2 cl simple syrup (see below)
- 3 cl dark Barbados rum
- 4 cl water
Mix the ingredients thoroughly and pour them into a glass with plenty of coarsely crushed ice. Then add
- a few dashes of Angostura and
- some freshly grated nutmeg
And the refreshment is ready! 😃
Simple Syrup
Simple syrup is a part of the recipe, but is also commonly used for other cocktails. It is simply sugar syrup. You can buy it ready-made in the supermarket, but you can also easily make it yourself.
Carefully bring a cup of water and two cups of cane sugar to the boil in a pan on the stove. Stir continuously until the sugar has completely dissolved. The sugar must not caramelise, the syrup should be light and clear at the end. Due to the high sugar content, the syrup becomes very hot, so be careful not to burn yourself!
Let the syrup cool down and then pour it into a bottle using a funnel. It will keep for several weeks in the fridge.
The Rum
Naturally, the Rum Punch tastes best with an original Barbados rum. In Barbados, you can find a good local rum in any supermarket for very little money. It doesn’t taste as harsh as the types of rum you usually get in the supermarket here, but rather aromatic and slightly sweet.
Unfortunately, good Barbados rum is not so easy to get hold of here, but you should be able to find an affordable variety in a specialist spirit shop.
In a pinch, you can of course use any other dark rum. It just won’t taste quite as good. 😉