Christmas preparations and traditions
Some of the best things about Christmas in Denmark are the many Christmas traditions as well as the preparations which provide for many cosy and comfortable moments. You need to get Christmas presents and a tree, buy all the traditional food, do your Christmas baking, and make decorations.
Most importantly of all you need to let peacefulness and that Christmassy feeling descend upon you to really enjoy the Christmas season. During December Aarhus abound with wonderful experiences of Christmas and boast a real Christmas atmosphere. Here you can get everything to prepare and get ready for Christmas.
Christmas delicacies and recipes
For many Danes, Christmas is closely connected with traditions such as Christmas baking and the fun and warmth of cooking with the family. During November and December you can find lots of inspiration for baking the delicacies of the season in the Den Gamle By' - The Old Town Museum.At the Baker's Shop the shelves abound with Christmas delicacies prepared using the classic Danish recipes.
Do your own Christmas baking using The Old Town's traditional recipies.
The Old Town is also where you can find inspiration for this year's Christmas tree. Here the history of Danish Christmas through time is portrayed, where you can see, for example, how they decorated the Christmas tree in the 19th century.
See some of the best Danish Christmas recipes at the bottom of this page.
The perfect Christmas present
In Scandinavia’s best shopping city there is every opportunity for finding the perfect Christmas present that will spread joy on Christmas Eve. Whether you are looking for unique hand-made designs in the Vestergade and Frederiksbjerg precinct or an exclusive designer handbag in the 'Latin Quarter', you will find it in Aarhus.
Visit the Salling, Magasin and Bruun's Galleri shopping centres with Christmas atmosphere and great inspirations for those ideal presents, then walk under the most gloriously sparkling, starry sky of Christmas in the pedestrianised high street 'Strøget'.
Shopping at the Christmas markets in Aarhus
At the Christmas markets in Aarhus you can make the final preparations for Christmas. You can buy a Christmas duck, pine branches for the traditional candle decoration, and decorations for your tree. Get into the Christmas spirit to the aromas of Christmas delicacies, such as burnt sugar almonds, traditional Christmas grog, and old-fashioned Danish doughnuts..
The best Christmas recipes
VANILLA COOKIES
Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
7 oz. butter
1 pinch baking powder
The seeds of 1 vanilla pod
2 oz. blanched, finely chopped almonds
Combine the ingredients and then refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours. Press the dough through a piping bag, so you get long lines of dough. Cut into pieces about 4 inches long. Shape each piece into rings. Bake at 350-400 degrees (F) for about 8 minutes.
CHRISTMAS COOKIES
Ingredients
1.1 pounds butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups syrup
5 oz. blanched, chopped almonds
¼ oz. cloves
1 oz. cinnamon
1 ¼ oz. cardamom
½ oz. potash (you may substitute baking soda)
6 ¼ cups flour
Finely chopped rind of 1 orange
Slowly heat the butter, syrup and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the spices, almonds, orange rind and potash. Stir in the flour once the dough is lukewarm.
Shape the cold dough into rolls of the desired size. Pack each roll in aluminum foil and freeze for a day or preferably longer. Take the rolls directly from the freezer and cut them into paper thin slices.
Bake at the top of the oven at 340 degrees (F) for 5-6 minutes. Put the cookies in an airtight container once they have cooled off completely.
GLÖGG WITH RUM-MARINATED RAISINS
Ingredients:
6 quarts red wine
28 cardamom seeds
80 cloves
8 cinnamon sticks
4 pieces of ginger
4 bay leafs
1 ¾ cups sugar
Rind and juice of 2 lemons
Rind and juice of 2 oranges
1 ¾ cups water
Rum
Raisins
Chopped almond
Marinate the raisins in the rum for a few days (or weeks) before preparing the toddy and keep them refrigerated in an airtight container.
Heat four cups of red wine with the spices, sugar, lemon and orange in a small saucepan for half an hour keeping the lid on. Let it sit until the next day.
Strain into a larger saucepan. Pour in the rest of the red wine and keep the toddy at 175 degrees (F), though no warmer than that. Add the chopped almonds and marinated raisins before serving.
Recipes translated with permission from
dk-kogebogen.dk