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Wakefield Museums and Castles
Hippocras spiced wine
Hippocras was a spiced wine drink from the medieval and Tudor periods. It was popularly drank after a festive meal.
Get into the festive spirit and mix yourself up a glass to unwind with after Christmas shopping.
This recipe is adapted from 'The Forme of Cury - (14th century), Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks' by Constance B. Hieatt, Brenda Hosington and Sharon Butler.
The recipe is of course intended for adults as it contains alcohol!
Ingredients
2 litres of red wine
340g of sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
10g of fresh ginger
1 teaspoon each of cardamom, cloves, mace and nutmeg
Optional: spikenard, white pepper, caraway seed, galingale, marjoram
You'll also need:
Saucepan
Strainer / sieve
How to make it
Put the sugar in a large saucepan and stir in the wine over a gentle heat. Do this until the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil, as the alcohol will evaporate.
Remove from the heat and stir in all the spices.
Leave for at least 20 minutes to marinate.
Strain before serving.
Mix it up
You could also:
Experiment with different spices and develop your own unique spiced wine
Substitute the wine for fruit juice - spiced orange or apple juice is a lovely alcohol-free alternative
Make and give a bottle of Hippocras as a special gift