We’re back with a new recipe, this one in the spirit of hygge – the Danish concept of comfort and coziness that is perfect for making it through gloomy Scandinavian winters and our dreary, drizzly January here in DC. This time, we’re making Glogg (which you might also see as Glögg or Gløgg), a traditional Swedish mulled wine. It’s hot and it’s sweet and and it’s rich and it will warm up your cold bones. –Andrew

Glogg

1 750 ml bottle Bordeaux
1 cup Brandy
1 cup White Port
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Raisins
1 cup Blanched Almonds, Slivered
1 Orange Peel
6 Cardamom Pods, Cracked Open
4 Cloves
2 Cinnamon Sticks, Broken Up
1 Star Anise Pod

Combine everything in a big sauce pan and simmer together until the sugar is melted. Remove from the heat, cover, and let infuse for at least an hour and overnight if possible. Strain through cheesecloth, squeezing the cheesecloth to extract as much liquid as possible from the raisins. To serve, reheat and ladle into cups or mugs. Enjoy!

This is a perfect comfort drink: mild, warm, with lots of baking spice and sweet almond and mellow citrus flavors.

When Nole suggested that we make a Glogg, I went digging through recipes. And I discovered that no two were alike. Some called for brandy, others for rum, and still others for bourbon to fortify them. Some used raisins and almonds and others didn’t. Some even called for setting the mix on fire (I was really tempted to try one of those…) to extract flavors from the spices and orange peel. They were all over the place!

And I realized that of course there should be no single recipe. Glogg was the sort of thing that each family would have made at home, probably from memory and probably without trivial details like measuring. So take this recipe with a grain of salt, a starting point rather than anything definitive. Play around with the spices (maybe some allspice next time?) and the fortifying spirits (maybe some aquavit and sherry instead?) and the citrus (maybe some lemon or some exotic winter citrus?) until you come up with your own family recipe.

And then memorize that recipe, and never write it down, and pass it down to your kids for winters to come.

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Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper