How to make Pebernødder

A well known treat in Denmark for Christmas is ‘pebernødder’ or directly translated pepper nuts! Danes offer them during Christmas and sometimes they put them in small paper baskets and hang them on their Christmas tree. There is actually neither pepper nor nuts in them, but a lot of spices and they look like nuts. 

Image here

Do you want to try to make them yourselves? 
We found a simple recipe for you to try!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown/white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder plus 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. freshly ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 

2) Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in the cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt until well blended. Mix in the flour, one cup at a time, the baking soda and baking powder until the dough gathers together. With floured hands, pinch off small, 1/2 teaspoon amounts of dough, roll into tiny balls, and place on a baking sheets (you will probably need more than one).

3) Bake in preheated oven until bottom of cookies are light tan, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool 15 minutes on baking sheets. Store in an airtight container.

Æbleskiver: The Danish Christmas Donuts

Aebleskiver is a Danish dessert, somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes but light and fluffy like a donut. Traditionally served with glogg during December. Cooked in a cast iron pan that resembles an egg poacher. Served hot with syrup, jam or powdered sugar.

Check out how to make your own aebleskiver below:

Julehjerte: Christmas Danish heart :)

The pleated Christmas heart is a special Danish tradition.It is said that the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen invented the braided heart, since the oldest known gloss paper heart was made by him in the 1860s. Christmas hearts consist of 2 pieces of glossy paper, which are braided together. 

The video below shows you how to make your own Julehjerte - enjoy it :)

Risalamande: The Danish Christmas rice pudding

Risalamande is a dessert traditionally served on Christmas Eve in Denmark. It is a kind of rice pudding, usually served cold and warm cherry sauce is poured on top (kirsebærsauce).

Portioned from a large bowl at the end of the Christmas dinner, a whole almond is hidden in the bowl of the pudding. The one who finds the almond wins a gift. The fun is to hide the almond in your mouth as long as possible so that people will keep taking seconds and thirds in an attempt to find the almond and win.

Have you ever tried Risalamande? Time to make your own! Kathrine from Metropolitan University College shows us how to make Danish rice pudding in the below video - enjoy it :)