bisschopswijn

10 small apples
10 teaspoons brown sugar
2 bottles, .750 mL, dry sherry or dry Madeira
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 thick slices fresh ginger or candied ginger
2 tablespoons Bisschopswijn Mulling Spices
2 cups superfine sugar
1/2 cup water
6 eggs, separated
1 cup brandy

Core the apples and fill each with a teaspoon of brown sugar. Place in a baking pan and cover the bottom with 1/8-inch of water. Bake in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes or until tender. Place Bisschopswijn spices in a muslin steeping bag or large tea ball. Combine the sherry or Madeira, nutmeg, ginger, Bisschopswijn spices, sugar and water in a large, heavy saucepan and heat without letting the mixture come to a boil. Leave on very low heat. Beat the egg yolks until light and lemon-colored. Beat the whites until stiff and fold them into the yolks. Strain the wine mixture and add gradually to the eggs, stirring constantly. Add the brandy. Pour into a metal punch bowl or any heat proof bowl, float the apples on top and serve.

Wassail (Middle English ‘woes hoel” – ‘be you healthy’) refers both to the salute ‘Waes Hail’ and to the drink of wassail, a hot mulled cider drunk as part of wassailing, an English ritual intended to ensure a good apple harvest the following year.  Historically, the drink is a mulled cider, mulled beer or mead, made with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and topped with slices of toast – which were sometimes hung in the branches of apple trees.  A group then sings: “Old apple tree, old apple tree, we’ve come to wassail thee, to bear and to bow apples enow, hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full, barn floors full and a little heap under the stairs.”

Here We Come A-wassailing

As with most carols, there are several related versions of the words. One version is presented below, based on the text given in The New Oxford Book of Carols. The verses are sung in 6/8 time, while the chorus switches to 2/2.