Autumnal spiced apple juice - from Sharpham cook Janet

A perfect, warming, alcohol-free drink made with the abundance of sweet, juicy apples at this lovely time of the year.

As the evenings turn chillier, draw deep pleasure from sipping this spiced and scented beverage and nourish yourself with this easy-to-make treat.

Ingredients

• 1 litre apple juice
• 1 small knob of ginger
• 2 star anise
• 2 cloves
• 5 peppercorns
• 6 cardamom pods, slightly crushed
• 4 allspice berries
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 orange, sliced
• Maple syrup / honey or sugar to taste

How to make this drink

First take the dry spices and heat in a pan on a medium heat till they start to scent the air.

Slice the ginger and the orange then put in to the pan with the apple juice and heat gently.

Let the flavours of the spices deepen - not letting the liquid boil but slowly simmering. Add your chosen sweetener to taste and serve in a beautiful cup or glass with a slice of the orange and ginger and an added cinnamon stick to twirl around.

If you want to create something a little more unusual, mix apple with a little pear juice, heating it with a vanilla pod, broken open, a few crushed cardamom seeds, some dried rose petals and a dash of honey.

Then serve with a few rose petals sprinkled on top - it looks beautiful and tastes a little exotic!