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Crock Pot Apple Pear Cider

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Fall in love with this apple pear cider made with fresh fruit and seasonal spices. Make in the crock pot and enjoy all day with the smell of cider brewing in the air! 

Apple Pear Cider | Fall in love with this apple pear cider with fresh fruit & seasonal spices. Make in the crock pot & enjoy all day with the smell of cider brewing in the air @asaucykitchen

How on Earth is it nearly November? Somehow it feels like summer was just last week, but Christmas is right around the coroner – my brain doesn’t know what to do this information. We’re in that weird time period where kids are running around decked out in Halloween costumes looking all kinds of cute and ghoulish while retailers are already lining up the dancing Santas. Holiday anarchy, I say! It’s fantastic.

Crock Pot Apple Pear Cider | www.asacuykitchen.com

What’ I’ve really been enjoying this time of year is all the fall food that comes along with the season. Not only do I have an excuse to make and eat soup after soup, I feel like I’ve got even more reason to take advantage of the seasonal fruit and do some baking – tis’ the season and all that, right? I’ve got a few ton of treats in mind coming up, but before I get to the baking I’ve been dying to make my own homemade apple pear cider. Homemade cider with our homegrown apples – how lucky am I?

I realized as I was making this that there is a small but distinct difference between cider and juice. Cider is basically freshly picked and pressed fruit (usually apples). It’s more robust in flavor and earthy in flavor. Apple juice is made from apple cider. It goes through extra processing and pasteurization to remove larger particles and solids. Removing the larger bits, gives apple juice a longer shelf life to keep it from fermenting while also giving it more of a clean and crisp flavor. Both of those are different from British cider which is made from apple cider with the addition of yeast that allows it to ferment and become alcoholic.

Who knew there was so much on the topic of juice vs cider?

Apple Pear Cider | Fall in love with this apple pear cider with fresh fruit & seasonal spices. Make in the crock pot & enjoy all day with the smell of cider brewing in the air @asaucykitchen

Either way you’ll be happy you made this. Who needs to go out and buy fall scented candles when you know how to make your own homemade cider. I know cider like this is meant to be served hot, but I actually preferred it cold the day after store in a jar with a few spare apple and orange slices. If you do prefer your cider hard, add a little rum and you’re good to go. Whichever way you have it, you won’t regret it!

Yield: 8 servings

Crock Pot Apple Pear Cider

Crock Pot Apple Pear Cider
Fall in love with this apple pear cider made with fresh fruit and seasonal spices. Make in the crock pot and enjoy all day with the smell of cider brewing in the air!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 medium pears, , any type
  • 4 medium apples, , any type
  • 1 orange
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 2-3 star anise
  • 2-3 slices of fresh ginger
  • 1 whole nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons whole cloves
  • 6 cups or 1.5L filtered water
  • 1/3 cup (109 grams) maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice)

Instructions

  1. Wash the apple, pears, and orange and cut them into quarters. Don't worry about removing the stems, seeds, and peels because you will strain it all out later. Place the fruit in the bottom of your slow cooker along with the cinnamon sticks, star anise, ginger slices, nutmeg and cloves.
  2. Add the water to the crock pot making sure to leave about 1/2 inch of space at the top of the pot. Cook on high heat for 3-4 hours or on low heat for 6-8 hours.
  3. An hour before the cider is done cooking, use a potato masher to mash the fruit. Cook for another hour.
  4. Strain the cider through a fine-mesh strainer or cheese cloth into a clean pitcher or pot. Stir in the maple syrup or your alternative sweetener until it is dissolved and serve hot or wait for it to cool and add ice.

Notes

Use a cheesecloth the strain the cider if you want a smoother, less pulpy drink.
Save the mashed fruit at the end to add to smoothies

Recipe adapted from [GImme Some Oven

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

g
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 123 Sodium: 12mg Carbohydrates: 31g Fiber: 4g Sugar: 22g
© Sarah Nevins
Cuisine: American / Category: Drinks

 

Fall in love with this apple pear cider made with fresh fruit and seasonal spices. Make in the crock pot and enjoy all day with the smell of cider brewing in the air! @asaucykitchen

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Comments

  2. I saw some other bloggers mentioned it but your pictures really are beautiful, nice job! The anise stars really make it look so festive – we are a cider family so I’ll be trying this one over the holidays, thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much Katie! Cider isn’t really something that I made a lot before, but I think it’s going to be a new tradition for us – it’s the perfect thing to get into the spirit of things

      Reply

  4. Ha! Just noticed you brought this to #SaucySaturdays!! (I may have begged you too) Thanks for coming..

    Reply

  9. Sounds so delicious, Sarah! A wonderful treat for a chilly day. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing it at Savoring Saturdays! Hope to see you back this weekend. 🙂

    Reply

  10. I love this idea! I am hosting a dinner party this weekend and was stuck on what to serve! I wanted to do a homemade cider, but also wanted to make it cost effective since 30 people are coming. I am totally making this! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe and beautiful photos!

    Andrea

    Reply

  13. HAD to pin this! Going to beg my mom to make it for Christmas. What an amazing recipe for a heart warming cider!

    Reply

  18. Oh my gosh! This is so clever!!! I have my baby shower coming up and this would be great! Thanks for linking up with our Fabulous Foodie Fridays party xx

    Reply

  20. Definitely pinning! I haven’t cooked anything except dinners in crock pot, so I’m very excited to try desserts and drinks. Comfort foods & drinks, here I come 🙂

    Reply

  22. I am in nostalgia heaven right now. We made apple pear juice for a long long time and loved it every winter with our own tree fruits in our steam juicer. Lately our pear trees are gone. Your recipe looks so pretty and delicious. It makes me want to reach into my cupboards and pull out a bottle right now!

    Reply

  23. I have never made apple cider, btu you make it look so easy and yummy. I would have no idea where to get star anise though.

    Reply

  25. That looks a great and easy recipe, perfect the glut of fruit at this time of year.

    I often make mulled (hard) cider in my slow cooker, it is the perfect party drink, affordable and it does not stain the carpet if it gets spilt!

    Reply

  28. Oooh this looks delish. As you said, cider in the UK is alcoholic, but we do have a thing called cloudy apple juice, which I guess is similar to your version of apple cider 🙂

    Reply

    • I had never thought of it before making this post because I always order cider when I go to a pub, but as an American I’ve always known cider as this drink you have during the holidays. Alcoholic or not, I just really love cider!

      Reply

  29. I am in awe of your photos of this cider…absolutely beautiful and they make this drink look so incredibly good.

    Reply

  30. Love this!! Looks absolutely glorious! Love how simple it is as well. Although I doubt I’d be able to resist it for 4 hours! Bet the house would smell amazing!

    Reply

    • Thanks, Annie! I kept wanting to try it before the time was right, but before you strain it it can taste pretty bitter so that helped me contain myself. It really does make the house smell amazing – it’s a good excuse to make more next week 😉

      Reply

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