Lazy Swede's Glogg

[erica_ac]

The Lazy Swede refers to me in this case. This is my adapted version of a more labor-intensive traditional recipe. I play with the spices quite a lot depending on my mood. Allspice can be nice in this, and so can a few black pepper corns or pepper-infused vodka (very warming). If you’re feeling really lazy, you can use a mulling spice mix - but in that case my inner Swede, lazy as she is, begs you to make sure it’s a mix that contains cardamom.

• 1 bottle red wine
• 1-2 cups vodka, aquavit, or brandy, depending on how much warming up you need, what you have in the house, and what you like.


• 1/3 cup raisins (If you don’t like raisins, you can leave these out)
• 1/4 cup sugar or honey (maybe a bit more if you leave out the raisins)
• About 5 whole cloves, though you can adjust depending on how much you like cloves
• About 5 cardamom seeds
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Pieces of fresh ginger, peeled (not, as I understand it, traditional, but yummy. I usually use 3-5 1-inch pieces)
• Orange and/or lemon zest - about ½ an orange’s worth. Bigger pieces of zest are easier for me to use in this recipe, because (see below) I usually skip the straining step.
• 1/2 cup blanched almonds (traditional and fun, but optional)


Directions

Combine sugar, cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, ginger, zest, and almonds in a pot, cover with water (about 2 cups) and simmer on low heat for nearly 2 hours.

At this point, you can strain out the spices and zest if you want (I don’t bother, but I’m lazy when not making this for company). Add the raisins and almonds. If making this for a large or fancy group, straining is a good idea so that serving will be easier later.

Once water is fully infused with spices, add the wine and heat until hot, but try not to boil all the alcohol out of it. Once the mixture is hot, turn off the heat and add the vodka (or aquavit or brandy)

You can strain out the spices and zest, but usually ladling the glogg into your mug avoids the need to do this. I use a spoon to capture a few raisins and almonds to go into each mug.

If you don’t use the whole batch, you can refrigerate and re-heat, either by putting it back on the stove, or by microwaving a cup full of it.

God Yule!