Glögg (Swedish Christmas drink)

Glögg is a Swedish Christmas drink which is seved during advent with raisins and crushed almonds, usually together with some gingerbread and lussebullar.

Ingredients:
500 ml grape juice
200 ml apple juice
450 ml water (I exchanged 200 ml to non-alcoholic wine)
1 tablespoon cardamom
1 teaspoon cloves
1 or 2 cinnamon

process:

1. Boil everything and leave it over the night.
2. Strain and remove the spices.
3. Serve it hot in small “Glögg-cups” with some raisins and crushed almonds. It truly tastes Christmas!

Enjoy advent!

Lussebullar

Lussebullar is a Swedish tradition that is actually supposed to be served for 13:th of December, which is tha day of “Lucia”, a Sicilian saint who became a martyr because of her faith. But today lussebullar is served during the whole of December.

Amount: 40

Ingredients

50 g yeast
500 ml milk
1 g saffron
200 g butter (room temp)
200 ml sugar
0,5 teaspoon salt
2 egg
1500-1600 ml white flour

For decoration:
Whipped egg
Raisins

Process:

1. Make sure the saffron is powdered and mixed with the warm milk. Mix the yeast with a little of the milk, then add the rest of the milk. Add the warm butter.

2. Add sugar, salt, egg. Slowly add the flour and mix the dough with dough hooks for 10 min. Keep the dough under a towel for 30 min, until it has reached double its size.

3. Spread some flour on a table and knead the dough once more. Divide it into 4 pieces. Divide every piece into 10. Roll every piece into a 15-20 cm long “snake”, and roll both ends towards the middle, opposite directions.

4. Press one raisin on each side of the bun (as on the picture) and brush them lightly with the whipped egg.

5. 250 degrees in the middle of the oven for 5-6 min. Let it cool down on a grid.

Enjoy your advent!

Ginger bread

Gingerbread is a strong tradition in the west for advent and Christmas. Unfortunately you don’t find neither gingerbread nor dough in India, so I made my own dough. Here is how you do it.

Amount: 50

Ingredients

450 ml honey (or maple syrup)
225 ml sugar
300 g butter
850 g white flour
3 egg
1-2 tablespoon cinnamon
1-2 table spoon cloves
1-2 tablespoon ginger
5 g baking powder

Process:

Boil sugar and honey. Put it aside and add butter, let it melt and cool down.
Add egg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Stir it well and then add flour and baking powder. Let the dough be in the refrigerator till the next day.

Turn on the oven on 225 degrees. Roll the dough as thin as possible on a butter paper. You can make your gingerbread in any shape you like. If you just want a round shape you can use a glass upside down. Bake your gingerbread in the middle of the oven for apx 5 min. Let them cool down. You can store them in the freezer for a long time.

Enjoy your advent!

Celebrating advent

Advent is a season mainly observed in western countries, among which Sweden is one, so I’m quite familiar with it as it was celebrated in our home every year at this time. The word “advent” comes from the Latin word adventus which means waiting. It is a time of “waiting” to celebrate the Lord’s birthday and even to expect His second coming.

Advent starts from the 1:st Sunday in December and as a sign of it every family will light one candle as I’ve done on the picture above. The procedure continues the coming three Sundays in advent, and the last and fourth candle symbolizes Christmas.

It’s a wonderful and cozy tradition for the children, especially when it’s dark and cold outside. Unfortunately it’s not that cold here in Kerala, but still it’s very cozy. These candles from fabindia are also spreading a nice aroma in the whole place. Christmas feeling is here!