Simple Cooking: Turn Your Stupid Apple Juice Into Delicious Apple Cider
By Caitlin Klein in Food on Oct 7, 2012 3:00PM
In what we are sure will be the scandal of the year, Chicagoist recently uncovered that the ingredients in your standard store-bought apple cider are exactly the same ingredients in the apple juice. In fact, a taste test of the two performed by yours truly conclusively proved that they are, indeed, the exact same thing. Damn those marketing geniuses at the grocery store!
Here is a simple, foolproof way to turn your stupid apple juice into a delicious, spicy apple cider drink. As an added benefit, your house will smell awesome. (Side note: We tried to buy some apple cider at the farmer's market, but it cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $800, and we wanted to pay rent this month.)
1. Buy large jug of apple juice or "apple cider."
2. Pour 12 cups of apple juice into a large pot. Set on the stove and turn the burner to warm.
3. Stir in 1 Tablespoon ground or grated cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon of honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and approximately 15 whole cloves. Don't worry, you will strain those badboys out later.
4. Warm on low for 30 minutes or more. The juice will concentrate and sweeten, so the longer it's on there, the sweeter it will be.
5. Serve hot or cold, but pour the cider through a strainer to catch out those whole cloves before drinking. If you want to sneak some bourbon in after you're done warming through, we'll pretend not to see.
Happy fall.