Ive done the whole cookie exchange thing....seems to be lots of women gathering in a kitchen to bake and make some delightfully decadent cookies, then everyone goes home with tins of an assortment of treats. Well, here in Sweden cookies aren't as big of a deal as candy. At least from my perspective AND because of the lack of chocolate chips - which to me is a universal indicator of a cookie consuming country but Im biased.
In Sweden I learned to make candy. And from what I can tell, the results look exactly like what you get from the store. There is no difference in presentation which for some reason to me was so impressive. For instance, you can almost always tell a home baked chocolate chip cookie from a store bought cookie. There is just something about it. I don't care if its the over priced pepperage farms or the kebler toll house, they never look like mom's cookies - and mom makes the best cookies! Here, the candy we made, put next to candy purchased from a store - I couldn't tell the difference 95% of the time.
There were 9 of us ladies all busy in Lynns house from 1:30ish to 7pm. It included a very nice squash soup dinner followed by Christmas porridge in which I learned you need milk, cinnamon butter, or syrup (or all in combination) to really eat it properly!
However, lets get on with the types of candy/holiday food we made. I will not go into all of them in grand detail because we made over 17 different kinds (I lost track) of candies...
I don't know what these are called, but they are this wonderful hazelnut chocolate nuget stuff wraped in marzipan which is then dunked into some sort of chocolate coating of your choice (white, dark, milk etc.)
We had white chocolate lingdonberrie truffles, chocolate candied ginger truffles, german walnut chocolate chip cookies made by our resident german Henrikka. It was funny because she had to weigh all her ingredients. I don't remember this from being in Germany, but I was only 4-7 years old.
Henrikka also made this other candy which is some traditional swedish treat that I can't recall the name. It was like hard toffee or another version of crack. Only, Lynn decided to hand wrap each piece. Henrikka is cutting it with a knife, but what was best is to use scissors and cut it. At some point its a lot like taffy and if you get it during that time you can use scissors.
We had these peppermint things that is simply sugar, peppermint, vinegar and one other ingredient...you dribble it onto wax paper and then dollop it with a bit of chocolate.
In Sweden I learned to make candy. And from what I can tell, the results look exactly like what you get from the store. There is no difference in presentation which for some reason to me was so impressive. For instance, you can almost always tell a home baked chocolate chip cookie from a store bought cookie. There is just something about it. I don't care if its the over priced pepperage farms or the kebler toll house, they never look like mom's cookies - and mom makes the best cookies! Here, the candy we made, put next to candy purchased from a store - I couldn't tell the difference 95% of the time.
There were 9 of us ladies all busy in Lynns house from 1:30ish to 7pm. It included a very nice squash soup dinner followed by Christmas porridge in which I learned you need milk, cinnamon butter, or syrup (or all in combination) to really eat it properly!
However, lets get on with the types of candy/holiday food we made. I will not go into all of them in grand detail because we made over 17 different kinds (I lost track) of candies...
It's all about "Knäck", a Swedish christmas candy, that actually translates to.. crack. Really. I find that pretty funny. Especially since many people also find it horribly addictive. It's really a creamy almond toffee - but that doesn't sound half as fun.
Lussebulle or lussekatt The buns are baked into many traditional shapes, of which the simplest is a reversed S-shape. They are traditionally eaten during Advent and especially on St. Lucias Day, December 13.
Lussebulle or lussekatt The buns are baked into many traditional shapes, of which the simplest is a reversed S-shape. They are traditionally eaten during Advent and especially on St. Lucias Day, December 13.
I don't know what these are called, but they are this wonderful hazelnut chocolate nuget stuff wraped in marzipan which is then dunked into some sort of chocolate coating of your choice (white, dark, milk etc.)
One of my favorite was white chocolate saffron truffles. Anna was making these without me being aware, but Im going to get the recipe from her! Granted it will likely be in swedish so I will have to translate it.
Personally, I made 3 items that actually didn't turn out 1/2 bad. I made my grandmothers Rum Balls, then some Coconut balls that didn't quite form properly because I put them outside in the snow to cool and it froze *oops* I amended the recipie by putting in chocolate chips and orange flavored crazins. Johanna made something similar but her's was a long log that she drizzled chocolate over the top. Johanna also made the Christmas porridge for us to eat after dinner.
We had white chocolate lingdonberrie truffles, chocolate candied ginger truffles, german walnut chocolate chip cookies made by our resident german Henrikka. It was funny because she had to weigh all her ingredients. I don't remember this from being in Germany, but I was only 4-7 years old. 
Henrikka also made this other candy which is some traditional swedish treat that I can't recall the name. It was like hard toffee or another version of crack. Only, Lynn decided to hand wrap each piece. Henrikka is cutting it with a knife, but what was best is to use scissors and cut it. At some point its a lot like taffy and if you get it during that time you can use scissors. 
We had these peppermint things that is simply sugar, peppermint, vinegar and one other ingredient...you dribble it onto wax paper and then dollop it with a bit of chocolate.
Because I had some extra time as other people were cooking, I also decided to make some fudge. Now, evaporated milk is not called that here in Sweden and there is none in Lindesberg as most Swedish people do not cook with evaporated milk. Some of you may realize that fudge or quick fudge recipes typically call for evaporated milk. then you add the marshmallows. Well, with sweetened condensed milk you do not add the marshmallows...so it worked out OK because there weren't many of those in great supply. Malin made some sort of rice crispy treat with cranberries and pistachios...only they were flat...like squished pancakes of a treat. Tasty, but flat and not as gooey as a good rice crispy treat. My fudge was a bit odd only because I made dark chocolate and when I thought I was adding vanilla flavoring, I accidently grabbed the peppermint and splashed it in. By this time I had already added the cranberry chunks. So, peppermint, cranberries and then I did top 1/2 of the tray off with walnuts - which in the end it all wasn't bad...but not complementary flavors. Stupid peppermint.
No comments:
Post a Comment