Ingredients
– 2-3 apples (peeled, cored and thickly sliced)
– 50g sugar (I don’t like my tea too sweet, you might want to add a little extra at the end if you have a sweet tooth)
– 1l water
– 1/4 tsp cinnamon
– 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
– 1-2 star anise (optional)
– Any other spices you may like such as cardamon, nutmeg or cloves are all delicious
– Juice of one lemon
Method
1. Caramelise the sugar in a medium sized pan.
ATTENTION: Be very careful when handling caramelised sugar as it’s extremely hot and can cause severe skin damage, kids and pets are best kept out of the kitchen during preparation.
Tip: Don’t stir the sugar while it’s caramelising, just tilt and move the pan from left to right if you’re worried it may burn on one side. The sugar doesn’t have to caramelise perfectly, it’s just for flavour and doesn’t have to look pretty. Be careful not to burn it as it will taste bitter.
2. In the meantime, peel, core and thickly slice the apples.
Tip: Always keep an eye on the sugar as in small quantities it melts (and burns) very quickly.
3. Bring the water to boil.
4. As soon as the sugar has caramelised, add the apples and hot water.
Tip: Be careful when adding the apples and water as it might sizzle up and burn you.
5. Add the spices.
6. Bring everything to boil and turn down and let simmer gently for 3-5 minutes.
7. Stir occasionally, making sure you scrape the sugar off the corner of the pan.
8. Before serving, add a little lemon juice to enhance the flavour but it’s not necessary if the apples are very sour.
9. Serve in a mug with apple pieces and a spoon.
Tip: The apple tea tastes even better if you make it the day before and let the apples and spices infuse overnight.
How do you caramelize sugar? Literally just sugar in a pan, nothing added?
Yes, just sprinkle the sugar (nothing else) in the pan on high heat and watch it melt but don't step away, as soon as it starts melting it can burn very easily. You can take a look at http://www.sweet-and-wild.com/apple-tea/ showing you an image of the melting process. Hope this helps, enjoy 😉