Firstly, how is Gløgg pronounced? The easiest way to say it is glug, where the ø is made with a sound like the u in sugar. Most northern European countries have a recipe for mulled wine or gluhwein, particularly at Christmas markets; what sets our traditional Danish Gløgg recipe apart for me is the addition of the slivered almond and raisins that you can eat with a spoon when you get to the bottom of the glass. Best served with a plateful of warm aebleskiver and a dice game, in my opinion. Find beautiful handmade mulled wine cups here!
Ingredients
1x750ml bottle of wine. Lots of recipes will say use expensive wine, as this equals good gløgg , but to be honest you’re going to put so many other spices and flavours in there that I would save your best bottle for later on in the evening.
8 cardamom pods
1 cinammon stick
5 cloves
½ cup of raisins
½ cup of slivered almonds
The rind from 1 orange
¼ cup of brown sugar
1 cup of port
1 cup of brandy (if you really want to fall asleep with a warm feeling in your tummy)
Put the wine, spices, raisins, almonds, sugar and rind in a large saucepan and place on a low heat. You want to warm it slowly enough that the spices permeate the wine, but not heat it up so much the alcohol begins to evaporate; it makes a fabulous accompaniment to our Danish aebleskiver pancake balls recipe, a traditional snack served at Christmas markets.