Jólaöl

Christmas beer

Jólaöl , Christmas beer, is also an integral part of Icelandic Christmas. Traditionally it is a mixture of malt beer with Appelsín, a very sweet tasting orange lemonade . In Iceland you can also buy many different types of Christmas beers, which basically consist of a mixture of malt beer and orange soda and are flavored with numerous spices and other flavors such as licorice flavor.

Of course you can also prepare your own Christmas beer. However, opinions differ when it comes to the mixing ratio :

Malt beer and Appelsín are usually mixed in a ratio of 1:1, but variants such as 45% malt beer, 45% Appelsín and 10% cola or a can of Appelsín, 1.5 cans of malt beer and 1/2 can of light beer are also popular. Sometimes hvítöl is used instead of malt beer and mixed with Appelsín, a classic Danish light beer with an alcohol content of around 2.5% and a high sugar content.

In this Christmas beer recipe, I enriched the traditional mixture of malt beer and Appelsín with ground spices and honey.

Ingredients

500 ml malt beer

500 ml orange lemonade

2 Tbsp honey

1 pinch of pepper

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cloves

Preparation

Pour the malt beer into a pot.

Add honey, pepper, ginger, cinnamon and cloves and slowly bring the whole thing to the boil and let it steep for about 15 to 30 minutes.

Then let the mixture cool down.

Mix with the chilled orange lemonade.

In this sense then: Gleðileg jól!

Merry Christmas already!

[Translated from here.]

Cinnamon rolls like from Brauð & Co.

When we are in Iceland, the cinnamon rolls from the “ Brauð og Co ” bakery in Reykjavík are always a very special culinary highlight for us.

In addition to the shop on Frakkastígur near Hallgrímskirkja (in this cheerfully colorful house here), there are now three other shops in Reykjavík, one in Garðarbær near Krónan and one in Kópavogur. And at the end of Laugavegur another shop with a café is probably opening at a gas station.

We once had accommodation very close to Vesturbæjarlaug over New Year's Eve and there is also a branch of "Braud & Co" directly opposite, so we could always stock up on rolls after swimming - that was nice!

And a recipe for cinnamon rolls like this?

I've often been asked about these super-tasty cinnamon rolls from " Brauð & Co " - and I know many different Icelandic cinnamon roll recipes, but unfortunately I've never been able to help.

I was even happier a few days ago:

“ Brauð & Co ” actually posted a recipe for cinnamon rolls on their Instagram page , in English, the “BAKE THEM AT HOME” version of their cinnamon rolls, so to speak!

Of course I had to try the recipe straight away!

"BAKE THEM AT HOME"

The special features, as far as I can see in comparison to other cinnamon roll recipes, are that the yeast dough is mixed with lukewarm water and then left to rise slowly overnight in the refrigerator. And the filling consists of sugar, butter, marzipan and lots of cinnamon! And then put the whole thing briefly in the hot oven with circulating air...

Here's a look at my yeast dough and the marzipan cinnamon filling.

Okay, so excited about the great recipe, I actually forgot to add the powdered sugar. And I still have to tinker with the heat setting of my oven a bit. But otherwise - I'm absolutely happy! (Even though I made smaller cinnamon rolls on top than the recipe calls for - so more people can try them.)

The cinnamon rolls turned out wonderfully light and fluffy and soft, crunchy on top and overall very, very tasty!

Our 2nd Advent will definitely be a pleasure!

Happy sunday to all of you!

[Translated from here.]