Glögg: A Scandinavian Beverage

Everyone loves the movie, "Frozen," but I was especially excited to  see that they included Glögg, a traditional scandinavian beverage, in the movie! We have some ties to Scandinavia, so it's been a Christmas tradition in our family to make it every year. We had a hard time finding it in the stores, so we found a few recipes to make it at home. Since then, we have found one local store that sells it, and we end up buying the few bottles they carry. I am glad we found a recipe though - some of the best Christmas traditions are the homemade ones. Cheers! Or should I say, "Skol!"

9-12 cardamom seeds or 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1 cup slivered almonds (optional)

2 cinnamon sticks or 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

6-12 whole cloves or 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

6 figs or 1 cup raisins (optional)

2-4 cups orange, pineapple, or cranberry juice

6-8 cups apple cider or apple juice

1/2 cup crystallized ginger slices, diced or 1 lemon, sliced (optional)

1/2 cup candied orange peel, diced or 1 orange sliced (optional)

Combine all ingredients (except citrus  slices if using fresh citrus). If using whole spices and raisins, tie up in cheese cloth or tea bag and remove before serving. Heat to steaming. Serve with citrus slices in each cup.

One variation to this recipe is to use a raspberry lemonade base instead of the apple cranberry base:

1 6oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate, reconstituted

1 6oz. can frozen raspberry concentrate, reconstituted

4 cinnamon sticks, or 1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

4 cardamom pods, or 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4  cup raisins (optional)

3 Tb. sugar

1 orange, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

  

Combine all ingredients except for the fruit slices, and heat to steaming. When ready to serve, float citrus slices on top.