I love the change of seasons. Just when you start getting sick of one season, the next one rolls in right on time. We suffer through the frigid winter months with brutal cold weather and welcome spring with open arms. When summer comes, we’re so happy to enjoy that summer sun and days outdoors having fun. By the end of August and early September though, we’ve had enough of those hot and sticky days and we just can’t wait for the weather to cool down.
Now that the temperatures are thankfully taking a turn for the cooler, I love having a nice warm drink. Recently, my mom came to visit and I made her my Pumpkin Spice Sangria. She loved it but suggested we come up with something warm for fall. Mom always knows best! A nice warm drink that is perfect for sipping on a cool fall night was a great idea!
We set off for the liquor store. On the way, she kept pondering whether or not we could find a pumpkin extract. I told her I’d never seen that, but you know me. It gave me an idea. I decided to buy pureed pumpkin in the can and add it to the drink.
We came up with a Spiced Pumpkin & Pear Cider. I simmered pear juice, pumpkin puree, one cinnamon stick, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and a little spiced rum in a pot. As it simmered away, I knew this would be good because my kitchen smelled just like fall exploded in it. Ah, yes! Bring on fall! LOL!
After simmering for about 10 to 15 minutes, I poured in a bottle of Moscato and some more spiced rum, because that’s exactly how to warm up when it gets cold out. I let it all warm up together and then removed it from the heat. You don’t want it on there too long or it will burn off the alcohol and ruin the fun of drinking an alcoholic beverage.
I only added a little pumpkin puree in my recipe because I wanted it to have that flavor, but if you’d like yours to have a thicker consistency, go for it. It really adds such a beautiful, warm fall flavor to it. Pumpkin everything is here, and let me tell you, this Spiced Pumpkin & Pear Cider IS everything!
Spiced Hot Pumpkin & Pear Cider
Ingredients
1 bottle wine
1 cup of the pumpkin pear spice mixture
2 tbsp spices rum
Directions
In a quart size pot, bring pumpkin pear spice mixture to a simmer.
Add 1 bottle of white wine (I used Moscato) and 2 tbsp of spiced rum.
Serve.
Pumpkin Pear Spice Mixture
1 cup pear juice
2 tbsp spiced rum
2 tbsp mashed pumpkin from a can
2 cinnamon sticks
1 whole nutmeg
10 cloves
2 inches ginger sliced
Directions
Place all of the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer. Let spices steep in the pumpkin and pear for about an hour to overnight. The longer the spices steep in the mixture, the stronger the spice taste you will have.
