Best Wassail Recipe

Heat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take 4-6 small oranges or tangerines (such as Clementines or Satsumas) and stud them with whole cloves. Put them on a baking tray with 6 lady apples (the really, really small apples). Put the baking tray into the oven for half an hour.

While the fruit cooks, put into a large pan

1 1/5 cups apricot nectar
2 cups orange juice
4 cups apple juice
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
2 sticks cinnamon

Heat the pan until the contents boil. When the fruit has finished baking, dump it into the mixture of juices. Lower the temperature and give everything some time to mingle.

You can add rum to the mixture, although it frequently works better to add it to each person’s cup separately (in case someone doesn’t want any).

Also, while you might feel like experimenting at first, over time I think you’ll find it works well to double the quantities of the fruit juices, not because you’re popular and have lots of guests, but because you’ll wake up in the middle of the night wanting some.

Fanitsa's 2009 Christmas tree.

Fannie goes undercover.

Fannie goes undercover.