First portion of Christmas Candy done



 



After ½ days soaking of the walnuts & raisins in cognac and cranberries in Cointreau, I blended these fillings prior to mixing it with the marzipan. I was a bit surprised about the ration between filling and marzipan, 200 g walnuts & raisins to be mixed with 150 g marzipan. I normally use more marzipan and less filling, so it will interesting to taste. The marzipan mix was also much more moist than usual for my Christmas Candy.



Afterwards I rolled the mixed marzipan into smaller balls, which I when coated with 70% dark chocolate. I used the microwave for melting the chocolate in one of my many Tupperware plastic things.

It did actual take quiet some time for the chocolate to dry, close to 2 hours !!!! Perhaps due, that the marzipan was so moist.

Now I just have to be patient until Christmas before tasting these Valnødkugler & Tranebærkugler

Preparing for making Christmas Candy with marzipan tomorrow

I have found two Christmas Candy recipes with marzipan in a small recipe collection made by Mai Knauer. I will be making Valnøddekugler (Walnut Marzipan Candy) and Tranebærkugler (Cranberry Marzipan Candy) tomorrow. However, you have to start ½ day (night over) in advance, as walnuts and raisins need to soak in rum (I will use cognac), and the cranberries need to soak in Cointreau. I keep saving the small bottles of liqueur collected from my various flights around Europe for different kitchen activity like this.

Burnt almonds

If you are brave, I mean really brave with exposing your Tupperware Microplus cooker to danger of damage, I have this very easy recipe on burnt almonds from my cousin (former Tupperware consultant). You need to be brave AND any damage to your Tupperware plastic thing is NOT covered by the usual Tupperware guarantee !!!!

Intrigued ?????


Ingredients:

• 200 g almonds
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons water

Almond mix before cooking

1. All the ingredients are mixed together in the Tupperware Microplus cooker
2. Place the cooker in the microwave oven and cook at 750 watt for 2 minutes
3. Take the cooker out and stir around 
4. Cook a second round at 750 watt for 1 minute and 50 seconds
5. Pour the mass out on baking paper
6. Save your Tupperware Microplus cooker - place it in cold water AT ONCE in order to avoid damage to it from the boiling sugar
7. Mix around in the almond mass
8. Place the almonds in glass jars, when the sugar is firm
9. Wait, if you can, for 1-2 hours before eating the almonds.

 

Right after cooking

Sugar is crystallised

Won a place at the Christmas baking event

Juuuhuuuu :-)) I won a place at the Christmas baking event, which will take place Wednesday next week at work. This baking event is conducted at the professional bakery and is hosted by trained bakers. We will start baking right after our working day is finished. This is just great, I will go home with tins filled with Christmas cookies being ready for my various Christmas guests. You will hear more next week

Christmas aquavit

This afternoon I got started on making the Christmas aquavit, so it actual will be ready for Christmas this year. It has a wonderful flavour of orange without being sweet. And it goes very well with the cold and warm dishes served at Christmas.

Ingredients:

• 0.7-1.0 l Brøndums Snaps - crystal clear aquavit with a mild caraway flavour
• 4 organic oranges

1. Peel the oranges with potato peeler, avoid to have to much of the white part of the peel.
2. Dry the peel at 100'C in the oven for 1-1½ hours - the peel most not be burned
3. Place the dried peel in 1 l glass
4. Add the aquavit
5. Be patient for 10-14 before removing the peel and the aquavit is ready for consumption

Christmas shopping in Flensburg

Yesterday two girl friends and I had our annual Christmas shopping tour to Flensborg. We always start with driving to one of the border shops targeted Danes and their shopping desires for cheap candy, wine, soft drinks and beer. The only reason for us  to go there is, that cat food is ½ price compared to the Danish price level !! After buying all the bags of cat food for Hannibal the cat, we go to the city center of Flensburg. Per tradition we are always eating lunch the same place, which is serving good traditional German food. We like this place so much, that we are not too keen in trying a new place to eat lunch.

After filling up our inner "fuel tank" we will be ready for serious shopping. Here two of us will look at our third friend and her shopping list. This shopping list will when be the guide for the afternoon, while we walk around from shop to shop. The two of us is having one place, which is a demand from our side = REWE supermarket.

In REWE we can easy spend plenty of time just looking into interesting food stuff, which is not possible to buy in Denmark. I am a big "fan" of the various food products within REWE Feine Welt, so I bring a selection of these products back with me. All of us have a master degree in dairy science, so being in the dairy area in a supermarket outside Denmark is like being in milk paradise !!! The variety of yogurt in Denmark is so un-appealing, that I never ever buy Danish yogurt. Let me into a supermarket like REWE and I will leave with a bag full of yogurts.

Countdown to Christmas is started

December 1st means, that Christmas is just around the corner. Luckily most of my shopping for Christmas present is already done, but none of my Christmas decorations have been unpacked from the hiding places. Actually the only Christmas decoration is this Christmas calendar consisting of 24 lights, where I am just on time with the very first light.

The snow, which arrived last week, is still hanging around and increasing in volume day by day. So the surroundings is like a 3D Christmas card, which very quiet unusual for Denmark.
Talking about Christmas cards. Yes, I have so fare received two Christmas cards. And I have Christmas cards, envelopes and stamps in house ready for my own season greeting process to be started. But not today, this evening I will feasting with Kusmi Christmas tea and two klejner :-))