White glogg with elderflower and citrus

A slightly unconventional white glogg recipe with citrus and elderberry! Enjoy the sweetness of elderberry juice, the acidity of lemon, and the hint of bitterness from bitter orange peel powder. For more traditional white glögg, you can try my apple glögg recipe or other red glogg recipes.

White glogg made with elderflower and citrus served in two glasses decorated with lemon slices and lemon peel hearts on a wooden serving board with golden raisins and decorated with pine branches.

Traditionally white glögg (hvid gløgg, in Danish), which is one of the best Nordic drinks, there are used some white grape juice, or apple juice for apple glögg or even apple cider or white wine to make a white wine glogg. 

In our family, we do not consume any alcohol. Most of the Glogg recipes are made with white wine, red wine, port wine, or even rum. To enjoy Glogg completely alcohol-free during the cold winter seasons, I have been testing it with plenty of different nonalcoholic Glogg options.

White glogg in glasses made with elderflower juice and citrus.

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Ingredients you need for white glogg

Ingredients for white glogg on the table: bitter orange peel powder, fennel seeds, anise seeds, sweetened elderflower juice, one orange, one lemon, and one mandarin.
  • Elderflower juice, sweetened, can be substituted with elderflower cordial and water. A great alternative is as well the more traditional options of using grape juice, or apple juice.
  • Caster sugar, if you are using unsweetened juice. Can be substituted with cane sugar, maple syrup, or honey 
  • Orange zest, grated
  • Lemon zest, grated
  • Mandarin zest, grated 
  • Anise seeds, can be substituted with fennel seeds
  • Fennel seeds
  • Bitter orange peel powder

You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.

Tools you may need

  • Large pot (1,5L)
  • Large spoon or whisk for stirring
  • Measuring cups
  • Grater
  • Strainer
  • Glass bottle for storing

How to make

Step one: Prep the ingredients 

Wash the citrus fruits well and grate the peel avoiding using the white part that gives butter flavors. Measure elderflower juice and the spices with grated citrus peels into the pot. If you are using unsweetened elderflower juice add now also sugar or syrup.

Seasonings for elderflower glogg: bitter lemon peel powder, anise seeds, fennel seeds, and grated peel of one mandarin, one lemon and one orange.

Step two: Simmering the glogg

Mix all well place the pot on the stove to medium heat and bring it to boil. Once the bubbles appear lower the heat to medium and let it simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Step three: Steeping and cooling

Take the white glogg pot off the heat and let it cool. Pour into a bottle and move to the fridge overnight.

Steeped white glogg with elderflower and citrus cooling down on the table on a coaster.

Step four: Straining

Next day strain the citrus zest and seeds off to get a clear white glogg with beautiful infused flavors.

A woman straining and bottling the white glogg after infusing overnight.

How to serve the white glogg

To serve, heat the white glogg to almost boiling and serve traditionally from glogg glasses. Decorate with lemon slices or orange slices and add some golden raisins if you like.

Decorated white glogg with lemon slice and lemon peel heart with some golden raisins.

Lemon peel on a wooden cutting board with heart-shaped holes in it and lemon peel hearts on the table with a tiny heart cookie cutter.

Upgrade the drink decoration with a lemon peel heart

Decorate the white glogg with a beautiful lemon heart to make the moment special. Peel a large piece of lemon peel and set it on a wooden cutting board, use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut hearts from the lemon peel. Use a knife to make a small cut to set the heart on the rim of the glass.

Storage

White Glogg stores for up to one week in the fridge. If you can seal the bottle airtightly it might last even a few months. As soon as it has completely cooled you can also freeze the white glogg in a freeze-resistant bottle for up to the next glogg season. Then when you need to just take it out the day before to the fridge to be enjoyed with friends, you are officially ready for the holiday season!

How to tweak this recipe

  • For less bitter flavors, you can skip the bitter lemon peel powder.
  • For more citrussy results, you can squeeze in the orange juice and mandarin juice with a few tablespoons of lemon juice and add them after the glogg has cooled down and before infusing the flavors overnight in the fridge.
  • To increase the Christmas flavors, add 1 teaspoon of cardamom pods and one cinnamon stick to simmer in the elderflower juice.
  • Add one vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla sugar swimming in the pot for a sweeter vanilla flavor.
  • For more punchier glogg add a few slices of fresh ginger root.

Little Helper

Making the white glogg with the little helper in the kitchen is fun. Depending on age let them measure and pour the ingredients and grate the citrus peels.

Most fun moments come with cutting the lemon peel hearts and decorating the white glogg to one’s liking. Get creative, give the tools, and see what happens!

Have you made this recipe?

Tag me on Instagram with @blue.tea.tile or let me know in the comments, I would love to see how it turned out!

You can find the recipe card below!

Two glasses of elderflower lemon glogg, decorated with golden raisins, lemon slices, and lemon peel hearts.

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WHite glogg with elderflower and citrus poured in the glasses and decorated with lemon slices and lemon peel, with some golden raisins on the side.

White glogg with elderflower and citrus

Yield: 1 L
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Steep time: 12 hours
Total Time: 12 hours 25 minutes

An unconventional white glogg recipe with citrus and Elderberry! Enjoy the sweetness of Elderberry juice, the acidity of lemon, and the hint of bitterness from bitter orange peel powder.

Ingredients

  • 1 L elderflower juice, sweetened
  • (85 g caster sugar, if you are using unsweetened elderflower juice)
  • 1 orange, grated zest
  • 1 lemon, grated zest
  • 1 mandarin, grated zest
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 0,5 tsp anise seeds
  • 0,5 tsp bitter orange peel powder

Instructions

    1. Step one: Prep the ingredients
      Wash the citrus fruits well and grate the peel avoiding using the white part that gives butter flavors. Measure elderflower juice and the spices with grated citrus peels into the pot. If you are using unsweetened elderflower juice add now also sugar or syrup.
    2. Step two: Simmering the glogg
      Mix all well place the pot on the stove to medium heat and bring it to boil. Once the bubbles appear lower the heat to medium and let it simmer gently for 15 minutes.
    3. Step three: Steeping and cooling
      Take the white glogg pot off the heat and let it cool. Pour into a bottle and move to the fridge overnight.
    4. Step four: Straining
      Next day strain the citrus zest and seeds off to get a clear white glogg with beautiful infused flavors.

      Serving
      To serve heat the white glogg to almost boiling and serve traditionally from glogg glasses. Decorate with lemon slices or orange slices and some golden raisins.

      Storage
      Glogg stores up to one week in the fridge. If you can seal the bottle airtightly it might last even a few months. As soon as it has completely cooled you can also freeze the white glogg in a freeze-resistant bottle for up to the next glogg season. Then when you need to, just take it out the day before to the fridge to be enjoyed with friends, you are officially ready for the holiday season!

Notes

Check the header "How to tweak this recipe" in this post to find out more ways to adjust the recipe to your liking.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 180Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 155mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 3gSugar: 36gProtein: 2g

These calculations are generated automatically by Nutritionix based on the ingredients shown in the recipe. The nutrition information is an estimation and may include errors. All nutritional information presented and written within this site (blueteatile.com) is intended for informational purposes only. The writer is not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should be used as a general guideline only.

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