Ingredients
Bowle
- 2 bottlesdry red wine
- 2oranges, zest and juice
- 1lemon, zest and juice
- 4cinnamon sticks
- 8cloves
- 4star anise
The fire
- 1Zuckerhut, sugarloaf
- 250 mloverproof dark rum
Equipment
- a heatproof bowl with a burner
- a Feuerzange that sits across the bowl
- a ladle
- a metal lid
Directions
- Read the whole method before lighting anything. This involves burning high-proof spirit over an open bowl and it deserves genuine respect.
- Warm the wine in a large pot with the citrus zest and juice, cinnamon, cloves and star anise, holding it below a simmer for 20 minutes and never letting it boil.
- Pour the mulled wine into the heatproof bowl over its burner and keep it hot.
- Set the metal tongs across the bowl and lay the sugarloaf on them.
- Soak the sugarloaf by ladling rum over it from a ladle, and never by pouring from the bottle.
- That is the rule that matters. Pouring from the bottle onto a burning sugarloaf can flash the flame back up the stream and into the bottle, and the result is exactly as bad as it sounds.
- Take the rum bottle away from the table and put it somewhere else entirely before you strike a match.
- Light the soaked sugarloaf. It burns with a blue flame and drips caramelised sugar and rum down into the wine below.
- Ladle more rum over it as it burns down, always with the ladle, and refill the ladle well away from the flame.
- Keep a metal lid or a damp cloth beside you to smother the flame if anything goes wrong.
- When the sugarloaf has burned away entirely, stir the bowl and ladle it into heatproof glasses.
- Serve hot, and tell people what is in it. It is considerably stronger than it tastes.
- It was popularised by Heinrich Spoerl’s 1933 novel and its 1944 film, and it is now a German student Christmas ritual.
Technique
- Never let the wine boil. Boiling drives off the alcohol and leaves a flat, stewed base under a very strong topping.
- Do this on a stable table with nothing flammable above it, and with the lights left on rather than off.
- A Zuckerhut is a cone of compressed sugar sold specifically for this. Sugar cubes stacked on the tongs work at a pinch.
Substitutions
- Any overproof rum of 54 per cent or higher, which is what will actually catch and stay alight.
- Grape juice with a splash of rum for a much weaker version, though the sugarloaf still needs high-proof spirit to burn.
Variations
- Made with white wine, which is lighter and less traditional.
- With orange slices left floating in the bowl.
- Kinderpunsch, the alcohol-free spiced version served alongside for anyone driving.
History
Popularised by Heinrich Spoerl’s 1933 novel and its 1944 film, now a German student Christmas ritual.
Frequently asked questions
What is Feuerzangenbowle?
Feuerzangenbowle is a cocktail from Germany: mulled wine under a rum-soaked sugarloaf set alight above the bowl. Popularised by Heinrich Spoerl’s 1933 novel and its 1944 film, now a German student Christmas ritual.
How long does Feuerzangenbowle take to make?
Feuerzangenbowle takes 20 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 glasses. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Feuerzangenbowle?
Yes, within limits. Any overproof rum of 54 per cent or higher, which is what will actually catch and stay alight. Grape juice with a splash of rum for a much weaker version, though the sugarloaf still needs high-proof spirit to burn.
What is the most important thing to get right in Feuerzangenbowle?
Read the whole method before lighting anything. This involves burning high-proof spirit over an open bowl and it deserves genuine respect.
