No Christmas celebration in Sweden would be complete without Glögg!

Glögg is a Swedish version of mulled wine, gluhwein, or if you are in Mexico – ponche – a wonderfully spiced (and spiked) warm wine, served with raisins and sliced almonds, which just embodies Christmas cheer!

Unlike pickled herring – you do not have to be Swedish to enjoy this soul warming drink. I have made this a couple of times and it has always been a winner. I brought some to my office party last week and it went down a treat so I promised to share this recipe with my colleagues and thought you all would appreciate it as well.

A word of warning though – as Glögg is very sweet and warm, a lot of people do not realise how strong it is! So go easy with it – as I talk from experience, glögg can give you absolutely horrendous hangovers!

There are many variations of making glögg, you can use brandy, vodka, port wine, different types of spices – but below is my favourite way. Up untill I moved to Mexico, I had no idea you could actually make glögg – in Singapore we just bought it from IKEA, and I was so surprised at how easy it is to make…

So without further ado :

Glögg

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 1 cup vodka (obviously you can increase or decrease according to how strong you want it)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cranberry juice
• 10 cardamom pods
• 10 cloves
• 2 sticks cinnamon

To serve

• tsp raisins
•  tsp sliced almonds

Preparations

Put all the above ingredients into a saucepan and heat up. Stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Be careful as to not boil the mixture, but just let it simmer for 45 minutes.

After 45 mins taste your glögg, if you feel that it needs more sugar/vodka/ juice add it in and let simmer for a further  10 mins.

Serve in a small glass or little mug with a handle with a teaspoon of both raisins and almonds.

Enjoy :)

P.S. You do not drink glögg like wine, but more along the lines of a port or whiskey. Small portions…but many :)