This tart sauce can be made with supermarket cider – you don’t need to purchase the expensive stuff from the farmer’s market.  I’ve even had good results using already spiced cider (in that case I didn’t add additional the spices called for in this recipe).

Pour this sauce over ice cream or dunk with something sweet like sugar cookies.

For this recipe you’ll need:

• 8 cups (2 quarts) apple cider
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 whole cloves
• peel of 1 orange and 1 lemon (use a vegetable peeler to make large strips)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon dark rum

Combine the cider, spices and citrus in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Do not cover the pot.  Reduce to medium heat and simmer for about 1 hour until the mixture is reduced to about 1 cup.  Fish out all of the spices and peels.  Run the juice through a single layer of cheesecloth to filter out any remaining sediment, clean the pot and return the juice back to the pot.

Add the cream, butter and salt and simmer over medium-low heat until thick, stirring constantly.  Turn off the heat and stir in the rum.

Serve warm.  The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Enjoy!