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Glögg

Glögg is a Swedish mulled wine that has been drunk since at least the Middle Ages. The word comes from the older glödg, which simply means heated. Nowadays it is traditionally served in December. Though you can buy it readymade, I always make my own, as I find the bought stuff too sweet.

½ bottle brandy
1 bottle red wine
1 bottle port wine (I use the cheapest possible of all three bottles of alcohol, as the spices dominate the flavour.)
25 grams of whole cinnamon
10 grams of whole cardamon seeds
10 grams of whole cloves
300 grams granulated sugar
15 centiliters of water

Lightly crush the whole spices and mix with the brandy After 1-3 days, strain and mix the brandy with the red wine and the port wine. Dissolve the sugar in the water on low heat, and add to the alcohol. Now it’s done, and just needs to be bottled. Will keep for several years.

Serve heated in small cups with whole almonds and raisins. Usually with gingerbread cookies and ”lussekatter” (saffron buns) to eat with it. In Sweden you can buy special cups for it, but cups meant for Turkish coffee are the perfect size.

The discarded spices can be re-used in a simmer pot.

You can play around with the recipe, and add other spices. This year I added two star anises and two tonka beans, some black pepper and allspice. Vanilla bean and dried orange peel can also be added. And you can use any sugar you like, this year it was a mix of rock sugar and some tonka-infused sugar.



Gingerbread

Mix together:
150 grams softened butter
2 ½ dl sugar
Add
½ dl golden golden syrup
1 dl cold water

Mix together in another bowl
8 dl white flour
1 tbl ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cardamon
1 tsp ground clove
1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Slowly as the flour mix to the wet ingredients until a dough is formed. Cover the bowl and let it rest in the fridge overnight, at least for 12 hours. Remove about an hour before you plan to bake. Roll out very thinly, like 2-3 mm and cut out with cookie cutters. Heat the oven to 175C and bake for 6-7 minutes.

If you wish you can decorate with frosting. The traditional shapes of the cookie cutters are hearts, men, women, pigs and billy goats, but whatever shape you want is fine. I have collected a lot over the years, but my favorites are a pig and a man cutter that once belonged to one of my great-grandmothers, so it’s over a 100 years old.

TIP: These cookies are a hassle to move to the baking sheet as they are so thin. So I roll out the dough directly on a silicone baking mat so I don’t have to move them.



Knäck (Christmas Butterscotch)

This is a traditional Christmas candy. “Knäck” translates to crack, and beware, these are delicious, but can be hard on the teeth and fillings.

You need equal parts of double cream, golden syrup (or treacle) and sugar. I usually use 2 dl of each. Pour into a pot and heat until boiling, while constantly stirring. Adjust the heat so it doesn’t boil over and continue to stir. Cook until 126-130C, or until a drop of the mixtures, dripped into cold water, is easily formed into a ball. Traditionally poured into small (like 1,5-2 cm across) fluted paper cups.

It’s very popular to add chopped blanched almonds as the last step before pouring, though personally I don’t care for that. But for the amount above, you would need about ⅔ dl unchopped almonds.