Aarstiderne Christmas Market

æbleskive

Yesterday the two youngest children and I took a quick trip up to Aarstiderne's Krogerup farm, for their annual Christmas market. Obviously, with snow on the ground it was cold, so we took our time to wrap up warm before we set off to investigate the delicious smells wafting their way across the car park and meet our friends.

Immediately our eyes were drawn to an apple press, the juice from which was the principle ingredient for a deliciously spicy warm apple drink. We ordered a cup to go with the two servings of freshly prepared æbleskive that we simply could not walk by. Having just bought the special pan in which to try and make my own I was more than happy to watch an expert at work turning the balls of mixture, each stuffed with a piece of cooked apple. They were very delicious and quite different from the frozen version we have tried so far. Æbleskiver finished, the children looked to the next stall and I was soon dispatched to purchase some soup that was cooking over a log fire. They devoured the contents of the cup with such great satisfaction that I must try to recreate the flavor at home. This is one reason why I love coming here, the team that create the wonderful array of dishes on offer do so using produce that we can all find.

After meeting our friends we went inside the farm shop to have a look around and warm up a little. The children then had the chance to bake large spiced honey hearts and while they were cooking in the ovens we took a look at the rest of the activities on offer. There was an adventure trail outside for the children that looked fun, pony rides and a Christmas story time. It was all in Danish of course,  no problem on a warmer day but translations in the snow with an unhappily cold toddler at my feet required more commitment than I was warm enough to muster. So we returned inside to decorate our hearts and heat our insides with delicious Julkringle (a yeasted dough filled with an amazingly spiced fruit and nut mix) and coffee.

Before I knew it we had been there for three hours, eaten most of the food on offer and had a lovely time with lovely new friends enjoying the extra special introduction to Danish Christmas culture. 

Tummy's full it was time to return home, peel off the layers and read a book by the fire, a perfect start to December.