glogg – TasteFood

Beverages, Christmas, gluten-free, Wine, Winter

Glogg: Hot Spiced Wine, Nordic-style

December 14, 2015September 10, 2018by Lynda Balslev2 Comments

Steamy, fragrant, and boosted with spirits, gløgg is an elixir that will warm the hardiest viking. Throughout the month of December, this libation is a Nordic staple, served in cafes, doled out from street carts, and ladled at social gatherings. It’s the season’s response to the cold and dark and as ubiquitous as herring and snaps. Most home cooks will make their own brew, either enabled by a mix or from scratch. This recipe is my version of gløgg from scratch, and I encourage you to try this method. It avoids the cloying sweetness often found with mixes and is remarkably easy to prepare. You don’t have to splurge on a nice bottle of wine for this recipe, but be sure it has heft.

Gløgg (also known as mulled wine and glüwein)
Serves 8 to 10

For the garnish:
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup Cointreau or Gran Marnier
1/2 cup whole almonds (optional)

For the gløgg:
1 1/2 cups Port wine
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup Cointreau or Gran Marnier
1/3 cup brown sugar
Zest of 2 untreated or organic oranges, shaved in strips with a vegetable peeler
10 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bottles full-bodied red wine

Fresh orange slices as garnish

Prepare the garnish:
Combine the raisins and Cointreau in a small bowl. Let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours. (The raisins may be prepared up to one week in advance. Cover and refrigerate until use). Toast the almonds in a dry skillet on the stove. Remove from the heat and coarsely chop into large pieces.

Prepare the gløgg:
Combine all of the gløgg ingredients, except the 2 bottles of red wine, in a heavy large pot with a lid. Bring to a boil, the reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid reduces to about 2 cups, about 12 to 15 minutes. Add the red wine, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Heat the gløgg without letting it come to a boil (lest the spirits will evaporate!)

To serve, add a spoonful each of raisins and almonds, if using, to a glass or mug. Strain the gløgg into the glass. Garnish with fresh orange slices and serve with a spoon for scooping up the raisins and almonds.

Beverages, Christmas, Denmark, Desserts, Uncategorized

Glogg, Aebleskivers and Christmas in Copenhagen

December 2, 2013November 10, 2020by Lynda Balslev15 Comments

~ Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen ~

It’s that time of year again, and like all good traditions that bear repeating, I will share my recipes for gløgg and aæbleskivers with you. This year I will experience these Danish Christmas delights first hand – I leave today for Copenhagen and one week of touring, writing and eating my way around this beautiful city and its environs, while I indulge my love for all things Nordic and my desire to share the magic of Christmas in Denmark with all of you.

You might think that Denmark is cold and dark at this time of year (it is!) but it’s also the coziest and most festive place to be during the holiday season with Christmas markets, Tivoli Gardens, and gleaming shopping streets lined with flagship stores displaying impeccable Danish design and half-timbered boutiques glowing in the dusky light. Open fires line the pedestrian walkways, warming hands and roasting chestnuts, while street carts and storefronts dole out steaming cups of gløgg and sugared æbleskivers to keep the energy up and spirits warm. You can be sure I’ll be drinking all of this in, and while I do that, I’ll share these recipes with you, so you, too, can join in the Scandinavian holiday spirit.

Danish Æbleskivers

Referred to as pancakes, dumplings or even doughnut holes in English, Danish æbleskivers are served as a treat throughout the month of December. While you can buy aebleskivers pre-frozen in the shops, nothing beats the vanilla and cardamom scent and tender texture of homemade æbleskivers. To make them you will need a special æbleskivers pan, which is a skillet with 6 to 8 round indentations. Cast iron is best.

Makes about 20.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 envelope dry yeast or .6 ounce fresh yeast (1 cake)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 vanilla bean
2 large eggs, separatedUnsalted European-style butter
Strawberry or raspberry preserves
Powdered sugar

Heat milk in a small saucepan until lukewarm. Remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl. Add yeast and let it dissolve.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and cardamon in a medium bowl. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds into the dry ingredients. Whisk the egg yolks into the milk. Add the wet ingredients to the flour and mix well. Beat egg whites in bowl of electric mixer until stiff. Fold into batter. Let stand one hour at room temperature.

Melt 1/2 teaspoon butter in each indentation of an aebleskiver pan over medium heat. Pour batter into each indentation, about 2/3 full. Cook until golden brown underneath, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a wooden skewer, turn æbleskivers over and continue to cook until golden and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer æbleskivers to a plate lined with a paper towel, and repeat with remaining batter. Serve æbleskivers with powdered sugar and preserves. Accompany with gløgg.

Gløgg

Serves 8 to 10

For the garnish:
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup Cointreau or Gran Marnier
1/2 cup whole almonds (optional)

Prepare the garnish:
Combine the raisins and Cointreau in a small bowl. Let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours. (Raisins may be prepared up to one week in advance. Cover and refrigerate until use). Toast the almonds in a dry skillet on the stove. Remove from heat and coarsely chop in large pieces.

Prepare the gløgg:
Combine all of the ingredients except the 2 bottles of red wine in a heavy large pot with a lid. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until reduced to 2 cups, 12-15 minutes. Add red wine and warm over low heat with the lid on the pot. Do not let the gløgg come to a boil (lest the spirits will evaporate!)To serve, add a spoonful each of raisins and almonds, if using, to a glass or mug. Strain gløgg into glass. Garnish with fresh orange slices. Serve with a spoon for scooping up the raisins and almonds.

*Tivoli and storefront image courtesy of VistiDenmark.

Breads, Pasta, Rice, Grains, Christmas, Denmark, Desserts

Advent at Dusk and Danish Aebleskivers

December 23, 2012November 10, 2020by Lynda Balslev10 Comments

~ Danish Aebleskivers ~

It’s raining, and I don’t mind it one bit. It reminds me of Denmark when we made aebleskivers in the days leading up to Christmas. While we rush about today making final preparations for guests and our Christmas Eve dinner, I’ll be making a batch of these aebleskivers to enjoy before the fire, when we’ll raise our glass to our family members far and wide and reflect on our memories of Christmas in Denmark.

This week I contributed an article to Food Quarterly called Advent at Dusk. It shares a few Danish memories and transports you for bit to the Scandinavian countryside at Christmas, deep in the woods, replete with holly, moss and forest spirits. It also has a link to my recipe for these aebleskivers, so go have a look. In the meantime, I wish all of you a very happy holiday filled with warmth, friends, loved ones – and good food.
~

Danish Æbleskivers

Referred to as pancakes, dumplings or even doughnut holes in English, Danish æbleskivers are served as a treat throughout the month of December. While you can buy aebleskivers pre-frozen in the shops, nothing beats the vanilla and cardamom scent and tender texture of homemade pancakes. To make them you will need a special æbleskivers pan, which is a skillet with 6 to 8 round indentations. Cast iron is best.

Makes 20.

Heat milk in a small saucepan until lukewarm. Remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl. Add yeast and let it dissolve.

Beverages, Christmas, Denmark, entertaining

Gløgg – Mulled Spiced Wine

December 9, 2012November 11, 2019by Lynda Balslev12 Comments

Gløgg (Mulled Wine)

Hot, spiced, and boosted with wine and spirits, gløgg is an elixir capable of warming the hardiest Viking. Throughout the month of December, this libation is a Scandinavian staple, served in cafés, doled out from street carts, and ladled into mugs at social gatherings. It’s the fortified response to the season’s cold and seemingly endless darkness, and it’s as ubiquitous as pickled herring. Most home cooks will make their own brew, either enabled by a mix or from scratch. This recipe is my version of gløgg from scratch. It avoids the cloying sweetness often found in pre-mixes, and it’s remarkably easy to prepare. You don’t have to splurge on a nice bottle of wine for this recipe, but be sure it’s something you wouldn’t mind drinking, and that it has body and heft–we’re talking Viking sustenance here, folks.

Serves 8 to 10 friends.

For the garnish:
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup Cointreau or Gran Marnier
1/2 cup whole almonds (optional)

For the gløgg:
1 1/2 cups Port wine
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup Cointreau or Gran Marnier
1/3 cup brown sugar
Zest of 2 untreated or organic oranges, shaved in strips with a vegetable peeler, white pith removed
10 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bottles full-bodied red wine
Fresh orange slices as garnish

Prepare the garnish:
1. Combine the raisins and Cointreau in a small bowl. Let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
2. Toast the almonds (if using) in a dry skillet on the stove. Remove from heat and coarsely chop in large pieces.

Prepare the gløgg:
1. Combine all of the ingredients except the 2 bottles of red wine in a large heavy pot with a lid. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to about 2 cups, 12 to 15 minutes.
2. Reduce the heat to low, add the red wine, and cover the pot. From this point on, do not let the gløgg come to a boil–or the alcohol will evaporate!
3. To serve, add a spoonful each of raisins and almonds (if using) to a heat-proof glass or mug. Strain the gløgg into the glass (a tea strainer works well for this). Garnish with fresh orange slices and/or a cinnamon stick and serve with a spoon for scooping up the raisins and almonds.

Beverages, Christmas, entertaining, holiday

Gløgg, Glüwein, Mulled Wine

December 15, 2011September 10, 2018by Lynda Balslev18 Comments

Gløgg, glüwein, mulled wine – the names and languages are different but not the results. Orange, cinnamon and cloves steep in red wine fortified with a reduction of port wine spiked with Cointreau. Goodness, if that isn’t enough to get you fired up for the holiday season, then I’m not sure what will.

There are many pre-made mixes for gløgg, but the best way to make it is from scratch. It’s easy to do and requires an inexpensive full-bodied red wine. When you make the gløgg, the aroma of simmering spices and wine will fill your home with winter cheer. Best served in front of a fire on a cold and snowy day.

Gløgg
Serves 8 to 10

For the garnish:
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup Cointreau, Gran Marnier, or rum
1/2 cup whole almonds (optional)

Fresh orange slices as garnish

Prepare the gløgg:
Combine all of the gløgg ingredients, except the 2 bottles of red wine, in a heavy large pot with a lid. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid reduces to about 2 cups, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the red wine, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Heat the gløgg without letting it come to a boil (or the spirits will evaporate!)

cake, Christmas, Denmark, Desserts, holiday, Vegetarian, Winter

Aebleskivers

December 12, 2010August 8, 2014by Lynda Balslev7 Comments

Danish Æbleskivers

Referred to as pancakes, dumplings or even doughnut holes in English, æbleskivers are served as a treat throughout the month of December, almost always with a glass of gløgg.

Makes 20.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
.6 ounce fresh yeast (1 cake) or 1 envelope dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 vanilla bean
2 eggs, separated

Unsalted butter
Raspberry or strawberry preserves
Powder sugar

Heat milk in a small saucepan until lukewarm. Remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl. Add yeast and let it dissolve.
Combine flour, sugar, salt and cardamon in a medium bowl. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds into the dry ingredients. Whisk the egg yolks into the milk. Add the wet ingredients to the flour and mix well. Beat egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer until stiff. Fold into batter. Let rest one hour at room temperature.
Melt 1/2 teaspoon butter in each indentation of an aebleskiver pan over medium heat. Pour batter into each indentation, about 2/3 full. Cook until golden brown underneath, 3-4 minutes. Using a knife or skewer, turn aebleskiver over and continue to cook until golden and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
Remove æbleskivers from pan, and repeat with remaining batter. Serve æbleskivers with powdered sugar and preserves – and a glass of steaming gløgg.

Note:
An aebleskiver pan is a stovetop pan with 6 or 8 holes/indentations. While non-stick is available, choose a cast iron pan for best results.

Uncategorized

Danish Gløgg and Aebleskivers

December 7, 2009July 31, 2014by Lynda Balslev5 Comments

It’s the first weekend of advent and I should be in the woods. More precisely, I should be in the woods freezing my toes off, quite possibly in the dark, most likely in the rain. And I’m feeling nostalgic. We lived near Copenhagen for six years before we moved to California. Each year, on the first advent weekend leading up to Christmas, we traveled to my sister and brother-in-law’s farm in a forest in the middle of Zealand. We would spend the afternoon outdoors foraging holly, twigs, pinecones and moss to make Christmas decorations. The weather was often cold and wet, and the sun would set between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. After a few hours of walking in the forest with darkness descending, we would return to the house cold and hungry. Fires would be stoked in the ovens, gløgg would be heated on the stove, and we would claim a space at the long farmhouse kitchen table. Our harvest would be piled in the center, and adults and children would get busy making wreaths, tree ornaments, candle holders and centerpieces. While we did this, we would take turns making batches of æbleskivers, which we dipped in raspberry preserves and powdered sugar and washed down with mugs of steaming gløgg. It may have been cold and wintry outside, but inside everything was warm and toasty.

Now we live in California, and we continue our family traditions from Europe at Christmastime. We still make many of our holiday decorations, and, of course, gløgg and æbleskivers. In fact, I just finished a batch this afternoon, and as we sat in front of the fire with a glass of gløgg it began to rain outside – and we didn’t mind a bit. It was just like Denmark.

Danish Æbleskivers

Referred to as pancakes, dumplings or even doughnut holes in English, æbleskivers are served as a treat throughout the month of December, almost always with a glass of gløgg.

Makes about 20.

1 1/2 cups (360 ml.) whole milk
.6 ounce fresh yeast (1 cake)
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 vanilla bean
2 eggs, separated
Unsalted butter
Raspberry or strawberry preserves
Confectioners/powder sugar

Heat milk in a small saucepan until lukewarm. Remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl. Add yeast and let it dissolve.
Combine flour, sugar, salt and cardamon in a medium bowl. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds into dry ingredients. Whisk the egg yolks into the milk. Add the wet ingredients to the flour. Mix well.
Beat egg whites in bowl of electric mixer until stiff. Fold into batter. Let rest one hour at room temperature.
Melt 1/2 teaspoon butter in each indentation of an aebleskiver pan over medium heat. Pour batter into each indentation, about 2/3 full. Cook until golden brown underneath, 3-4 minutes. Using a knife or skewer, turn aebleskiver over and continue to cook until golden and cooked through, 3-4 minutes.
Remove æbleskivers from pan, and repeat with remaining batter. Serve æbleskivers with powdered sugar and preserves (and gløgg!)

Note:
An aebleskiver pan is a stovetop pan with 6-8 holes or indentations. While non-stick is available, choose a cast iron pan for best results.