Feuerzangenbowle

General

The Feuerzangenbowle is a German Christmas and New Years tradition which translates literally as "Fire Tongs Punch". It is a bowl, similar to a fondue set, which hangs over a small spirit burner. The bowl is filled with 3 bottles of warm red wine, and occasionally spices similar to those used in ordinary mulled wine. The bowl is brought out to the dining table at the end of Christmas dinner, and the "Feuerzange" is placed over the bowl. The "Feuerzange" is a metal holder for the "Zuckerhut", a large conical mass of sugar around 7 inches in length. The sugar is soaked in rum and set alight, and rum is continually added with a ladle until all the sugar has melted and mixed with the wine. It is then served in mugs, in the same way as Gluhwein, and the burner keeps the bowl warm until it is emptied.

The largest Feuerzangenbowle of the world ever was made in December of 2005 at the Isartor in Munich. 9000 litres were cooked in a copper boiler which was 3 metres tall and 2.5 metres wide. The earnings were donated to "Die Tafel", a non-profit providing food for the homeless.

The popularity of the drink has no doubt increased with the famous German film comedy "Die Feuerzagenbowle" from the 1940's, starring Heinz Ruhmann as writer Johannes Pfeiffer who, having had a bit too much of the magic drink, decides to dress up as a school student and goes back to school.

Recipe

Shortened translation of the recipe from the German Wiki recipes collection:

http://www.rezeptewiki.org/wiki/Feuerzangenbowle

Ingredients

4 bottles of dry red wine (e.g. Rioja)
0,75 l of rum (at least 54% alcohol)
2 organic lemons
2 organic oranges
6 - 20 spoonfuls of orange juice
2 - 10 spoonfuls of lemon juice
3 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
a pinch of gingerbread spices
1 "Zuckerhut"

Tipp

The rum has to have 50% alcohol minimum, otherwise the flambeing won't work. Also, if the rum has too high an alcohol content, >60%, the flame would be too hot, and would caramelize the sugar, preventing the complete disintegration of the zuckerhut.

Preparation

Wash the fruit with hot water.
Peel the oranges and lemons in thin stripes.
Put the zests, the spices, the juice and the wine into the bowl and heat to 70 degrees C.
Place the "Feuerzange" on the bowl and place the "Zuckerhut" on it.
Put the rum into a soup ladle, heat and lighten it, then pour it over the "Zuckerhut".
When the flame on the sugar has stopped burning, repeat the process with a fresh ladle of rum.
When the sugar has completely dissolved, remove all "swimming" parts from the drink.
Remove the "Feuerzange" and enjoy!

If you don't have a Feuerzangenbowle dish

Replace the Feuerzange by a grate.
Instead of the Feuerzangenbowle bowl and heater, use a big pot on a normal cooking plate.
Then the only remaining problem is how to get a "Zuckerhut" outside Germany!