Traditional Frothed Wassail Recipe (2024)

Home » Europe » British Recipes » Traditional Frothed Wassail Recipe

This traditional Wassail Recipe follows the classic method for making wassail, a warm, spiked, apple cider punch that has beenserved during the holidays for ages.

Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green;
Here we come a-wand’ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too;
And God bless you and send you
a happy New Year.”

What is Wassail?

Wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxonphrase “waes hail” which was first used as a greeting or a toast to wish others good health. The proper response to the toast “waes hail” was “drink hail“, and both parties would drink. The phrase for the salutesoon also became the term for the beverage they were toasting with, typically a spiced wine or ale.

In the thirteenth century, it was common to dip pieces of heavy cake or toasted bread into the wassail to soak up the liquid. In that era “let’s have a toast” literally meant, “let’s drink” or “let’s eat thetoast in our drink.” This practice is where we get the use of the word“toast” as the drinking salutation we use today.

Time to go Wassailing!

The ritual of drinking to each other’s health grew into a ritual of heading to the field or barn to drink to the health and prosperity of the crops and animals. The most common was the outdoor English drinking ritual that was performed in the apple orchards to ensure a good cider apple harvest.

Bringing the drinking outside evolve into the practice of“wassailing,” or traveling house to house wishing well to those within, and possibly singing a song or two. In return, the members of the household were expected tofill the mugs of the members of the traveling party with a warm, preferably alcoholic, beverage.

Our Traditional Wassail Recipe

While the drink Wassail most likely started off as a spiced wine and later spiced ale, now-a-days it is more common for a wassail recipe to include a base of apple cider or hard apple cider. The beverage isheated slowly with spices and a little hard liquor and roasted apples are floated atop the punch for a pretty presentation.

Another touch that adds a bit of something extra to the spiced cider is the common practice of serving a frothy wassail. The froth is created by stirring beaten eggs into the warm, spiced mixture. And the combination tastes just like Christmas should.

If drinking eggs sounds a bit funny, don’t worry. It did to us too, until we tasted the warm, creamy, frothy, spiced cider. Christmas delight in a mug! And, if you’re still worried, let us set your mind at ease: the eggs are fully cooked, because they are tempered, which involves mixing a hot liquid into an egg mixture. Doing this cooks the eggs slowly, keeping a smooth consistency, where as if you had just poured your eggs into the hot mixture, you would have ended up with scrambled eggs.

With or without the foamy top, this wassail recipe makes for a fun holiday beverage with lots of history. So grab a glass and drink to each other’s health this season!