Christmas Candy: Knäck

Knäck - 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. Wanna give it a go? There are many recipes, but I prefer this one. As opposed to most of them, this is made in the microwave, which means it's really fast.

For variations, check these out:
Peppermint Knäck
Crisp Bread Knäck
Dark Walnut Knäck

Swedish Crack - Knäck
makes around 40

100 ml cream
100 ml golden syrup
80 g / 100 ml sugar
3 tbsp finely chopped almonds
tiny paper cups

Mix cream, sugar and syrup in a suitable container. This means something that can take a lot of heat, go into the microwave, and still have high sides so the whole thing doesn't boil over. I have a quart-sized Pyrex glass pitcher that's absolutely perfect. Put it the microwave on the highest setting, for exactly 7 minutes. (You might need to try this a couple of times - if it doesn't boil for long enough, it'll be very soft and chewy. If it's boiled too long, it'll be rock hard.) Remove very carefully - it's super hot - and gently fold in the almonds. Pour into tiny paper cups very fast, if it cools down it'll be a lot harder to pour. Place in the fridge until they're set. Keeps well in an air-tight container.

Recipe in Swedish:
Min enklaste knäck

Christmas Candy: Walnut "knäck"

I've told you about Swedish "crack" before - it's called knäck, and that's because of the sound your teeth will make when breaking on this hard, sticky candy. No, maybe not. (But maybe - be careful when eating these!)

Almost every family in Sweden eats knäck during the holidays. It's wildly popular. And a bit fussy to make - you need to boil it until *just* the right temperature. Or you can just do like I do, and use the microwave. It's never failed me. The only problem is finding the right container for the job - I use a one litre (about 1 quart) Pyrex measuring jug, and that works perfectly. Sure, it sometimes spills a bit, but it's not hard to clean off with hot water.

You also need to work fast when filling your little paper cups. If you don't have paper cups, you can just pour the entire thing in a lined pan, and cut it into suitable pieces before it sets completely. But paper cups are traditional, and hopefully not completely impossible to find.

This year, I decided that in addition to the normal knäck, I'd also try a version using dark syrup instead of light, and walnuts instead of almonds. The results were fab - a grown-up version which is still sweet, but with more dimensions, and a great balance between the walnut and the sugar. Ni-i-ice.

Dark Walnut Knäck
makes about 40

100 ml dark syrup (a not too dark molasses, would surely work.)
100 ml sugar
100 ml cream (35-40% fat)
3-4 tbsp finely chopped walnuts

Mix syrup, sugar and cream in a suitable container, and cook in the microwave for seven minutes on full effect. Test to see if it's done by dropping a little bit into cold water - if you can form a fairly firm ball, you're done. Remove from microwave, quickly stir in the nuts, and quickly fill into tiny paper cups. Store in a cool place - I keep mine in the fridge.

Recipe in Swedish:
Mörk Valnötsknäck

Cherry Knäck with Toasted Almonds

I've given you several recipes for Knäck, but when I found this amazing idea at fellow blogger Anna Billing's site I knew I had to try it. I had an unopened bottle of Marasca Cherry Syrup on my counter, and using it to cook caramels was just brilliant.

I opted for toasted almonds rather than raw this time, it really pairs well with the sweetness.

Cherry Knäck with Toasted Almonds

200 ml cherry syrup
200 g sugar
200 ml heavy cream
2 tbsp butter, unsalted
toasted almonds, coarsely chopped

Stir together syrup, sugar, cream and butter in a thick-bottomed saucepan, and cook on medium heat until it reaches 125-126°C. Pour immediate into tiny paper cups (there are special ones for Knäck) and sprinkle with the almonds. Let them set completely, I usually put them in the fridge.

A tip for pouring easily: transfer the hot caramel to a small pitcher with a spout. It makes it a lot easier.

Recipe in Swedish:
Körsbärsknäck med rostad mandel

Christmas Candy: Crisp Bread Knäck

The night before christmas! (Christmas is always celebrated on the 24th here.) I have to share one more christmas candy recipe with you. I've posted about Swedish knäck before, our special sort of toffee that almost everyone makes for the holidays. You can play around with it in many different ways and a few months ago it occurred to me that you might be able to switch the almonds for something else that's crunchy.. like crisp bread!

I know that it sounds awfully weird, but it actually turned out really well. I've had a lot of guests try it by now and everyone really liked it - even though they all looked extremely sceptical before trying. You have to have crisp bread for this, obviously, and it can be quite hard to find in some countries. IKEA is generally a safe bet, though.

Now, I'm off to have a slice of just-cooked Christmas ham... on crisp bread. Of course.

Crisp Bread Knäck
makes about 40

100 ml sugar
100 ml golden syrup
100 ml cream (heavy, double or whatever it's called in your country - the fattest kind you can find)
2 crushed slices of rye crisp bread (I use a kind called Rågi)(shake the crumbs in a colander to get rid of any "dust".)

Mix cream, sugar and syrup in a suitable container. This means something that can take a lot of heat, go into the microwave, and still have high sides so the whole thing doesn't boil over. I have a quart-sized Pyrex glass pitcher that's absolutely perfect. Put it the microwave on the highest setting, for exactly 7 minutes. (You might need to try this a couple of times - if it doesn't boil for long enough, it'll be very soft and chewy. If it's boiled too long, it'll be rock hard.)

Remove very carefully - it's super hot - and gently fold in the crushed crisp bread. Pour into tiny paper cups very fast, if it cools down it'll be a lot harder to pour. Place in the fridge until they're set. Keeps well in an air-tight container.

Recipe in Swedish:
Knäcke-Knäck

Christmas Candy: Peppermint Knäck

Ok, let's do one more variation on knäck, that lovely Swedish christmas confection. Last one this year, I promise! This one uses crushed peppermint candies to give a decidedly different touch to the sweet toffee. Per thought they were extremely weird, but most other guests loved them.

Peppermint Knäck

100 ml sugar
100 ml golden syrup
100 ml cream (heavy, double or whatever it's called in your country - the fattest kind you can find)
3 tbsp crushed peppermint candies

Mix cream, sugar and syrup in a suitable container. This means something that can take a lot of heat, go into the microwave, and still have high sides so the whole thing doesn't boil over. I have a quart-sized Pyrex glass pitcher that's absolutely perfect. Put it the microwave on the highest setting, for exactly 7 minutes. (You might need to try this a couple of times - if it doesn't boil for long enough, it'll be very soft and chewy. If it's boiled too long, it'll be rock hard.)

Remove very carefully - it's super hot - and gently fold in the crushed candies. Pour into tiny paper cups very fast, if it cools down it'll be a lot harder to pour. Place in the fridge until they're set. Keeps well in an air-tight container.

Recipe in Swedish:
Polkaknäck

Christmas Candy - a small round-up

I've done a whole lot of christmas candy over the years, so I thought I'd post a round-up to help you find some new favorites.

Caramels & Toffee:
Chocolate-Dipped Almond Toffee
Hard Caramels
Knäck
Crisp-Bread Knäck
Espresso Caramels
Lingonberry Toffee
Vanilla Bean Caramels
Gingerbread Toffee
Lemon Vanilla Toffee
Pecan Chocolate Toffee
Walnut Knäck


Brittle & Bark:
Cashew Brittle
Pistachio Brittle
Peppermint Bark
Cherry Pistachio Bark
Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Bark

Chocolate:
Coconut Truffles
Peppermint Patties
Saffron White Chocolate Truffles
Peanut Butter Cups
Peanut Nougat
Peanut Truffles
Rocky Road

Other stuff:
Orangettes
Vanilla Bean Marshmallows
Walnut Vanilla Marzipan

Christmas Candy - a round-up

Here is, as promised, a guide to some of the candy I've posted about in the past, that'd be suitable for christmas. More than suitable actually - it would be absolutely lovely!

Swedish knäck - almond caramel

Knäck, but a darker, walnutty version

Peanut Truffle

Peanut Nougat

Peppermint Patties

Peppermint Bark

Cherry Pistachio Bark

Gingerbread Caramels

Lemon-Vanilla Caramels

Espresso Caramels

Pecan Chocolate Toffee

And of course my most recent post on the subject, Rocky Road.

Christmas Candy: Swedish Crack

I really wonder what kind of visitors I'll get with this title. Well. What is this post really about? It's 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. Wanna give it a go? There are many recipes, but I prefer this one. As opposed to most of them, this is made in the microwave, which means it's really fast. Here's the recipe!

Swedish Crack - Knäck
makes around 40

100 ml cream
100 ml golden syrup
80 g / 100 ml sugar
3 tbsp finely chopped almonds
tiny paper cups

Mix cream, sugar and syrup in a suitable container. This means something that can take a lot of heat, go into the microwave, and still have high sides so the whole thing doesn't boil over. I have a quart-sized Pyrex glass pitcher that's absolutely perfect. Put it the microwave on the highest setting, for exactly 7 minutes. (You might need to try this a couple of times - if it doesn't boil for long enough, it'll be very soft and chewy. If it's boiled too long, it'll be rock hard.) Remove very carefully - it's super hot - and gently fold in the almonds. Pour into tiny paper cups very fast, if it cools down it'll be a lot harder to pour. Place in the fridge until they're set. Keeps well in an air-tight container.

A very early Christmas Smörgåsbord

Julbord, or a Christmas Smörgåsbord, is a very big deal in Sweden. Many restaurants will serve this - and almost always ONLY this - for the entire month of December. Most companies will have their employees out for Christmas dinners, and many go privately as well. Yesterday, me, Dagmar and Per were invited to a preview at Fjäderholmarnas Krog, who decided to serve up their julbord a few months in advance. I visited Fjäderholmarna last year, but I'd never been to the restaurant before.

It was really, really cool - and incredibly tasty. What made it different? Well, the big thing was that it was served in tiny portions, really. Instead of having big casseroles filled with, say, smoked salmon, the kitchen served up nice cubes. Everything was cut into bite-sized pieces, which really helped keep the whole thing fresh-looking. I didn't bring my camera, so bear with my iPhone photos.. we did also get a cd with some press photos, so I'm showing you those as well.

To sum up: if you're wanting to try Swedish julbord this year, do go to Fjäderholmarna! It's a fifteen-minute boat trip from Stockholm city, and well worth it. But do book in advance, because I'm sure it will fill up quite fast. Prices vary from 495-695 SEK depending on the day and time.

Now, for the entire menu... (yes, you get all of this.) (And no, I didn't try everything.)



First course - variations on herring:
Many types of sill (pickled herring), flavored with: curry, lingonberries & black pepper, herbs, Mackmyra (Swedish whiskey), sea buckthorn, black currants, aniseed, garlic & almonds, mustard, lemon & dill, rosehip & cardamom, vanilla & lime leaf, honey & jalapeño

Also, teriyaki herring, sillsalad, olive oil & saffron herring, vendace roe herring, matjesill (a special sort of spiced sill) with crème fraîche, allspice herring, tomato herring and herb-cured herring. And a few different types of sharp, well-aged cheeses.



Second course - more fish:
Orange & Sichuan cured salmon, cured salmon, salmon tartare with vendace roe, smoked herring, cold-smoked salmon, warm-smoked salmon, artic char with caraway, pike & shellfish paté, Västerbotten Cheese pie with vendace roe, boiled eggs with vendace roe, boiled eggs with shrimp, salmon in aspic, salted pike-perch, salmon & herb paté.



Third course - cold meats:
Rolled sylta (jellied meat loaf, sort of), veal sylta, wild boar ham, Christmas ham, sylta made from pork and pig´s feet, smoked lamb, reindeer salami, coarse liver paté, moose salami, Gustafskorv (made from horses), smoked reindeer, deer paté, rabbit sylta, orange smoked duck breast, pheasant paté, moose & shiitake paté, wild boar paté, smoked moose, chicken roulade, veal & pistachio sausage



Fourth course - optional - lutfisk with classic trimmings. (We skipped this, as it had to be ordered separately. And none of us like lutfisk.)

Fifth course - warm food:
Ribs, meatballs, brown cabbage, red cabbage, Christmas choucroute, mushroom omelet, shellfish omelet, sausages, Jansson's temptation, Kroppkakor, "Dopp i grytan" (essentially you dip bread into fat rendered from cooking your ham), and finally a fingerling potato cream with suovas (smoked, dried reindeer filet) with pickled chanterelles and lingonberries.

Sixth course - again optional - cheese:
Per ordered this, and got a well-aged stilton from Neal's Yard, Swedish Påverås Fjällädel, apple marmelade, fruit & nut bread and some sort of thinly sliced pears. Tiny pieces.



Seventh course - desserts:
Cloudberries with cream cheese and gingerbread, dark chocolate mousse with peaches, pear, lemongrass & lingonberries with vodkamousse, warm cheesecake with raspberry jam, almonds and white chocolate mousse, fruit salad, fig fruitcake, marzipan, burnt almonds, a special chocolate flavored with Mackmyra whisky, cherry fruit cake, Swedish knäck, "ice chocolate", "mint kisses" (mint fondant with dark chocolate), "polka-pigs" (similar to candy canes), chocolate cake, candied orange peel in chocolate, truffles with raspberries, three types of marmalade (white peach, apple and blackcurrant), and a delicious licorice & salt chocolate bark. And fruits, but who could eat fruit after all that..?


My dessert plate

Toffee-making: extreme disaster

Things don't always work out as planned. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes, just like everyone else. And I recently had a major kitchen disaster - the worst since my horrendous experience with the chocolate-plastic-wrap-uncooked-spaghetti-cake. (And no, I haven't made it again. I doubt I ever will. The very thought makes me cringe.)

Making candy is a big part of the holiday preparations for many Swedes. In particular, toffee is big. Almond Cream Toffee - "knäck" (named for the sound your teeth will make as they crack..) is a real staple. I had gotten a couple of new recipes from an online forum, so I thought I'd try them out. While at it, I figured I'd go ahead and make four types at once. Hybris? You could say that again.

All four kinds ended in disaster. I thought I was so well prepared, but when three kinds of toffee were done at the exact same moment, I had to realise I was defeated. There was just no way I could handle it. One toffee burned, another got hard as a rock. My fudge turned.. oh, into toffee, kind of (at least that's edible) and my tried and true Almond Cream Toffee boiled over in the microwave and made a complete mess.

I'd love to share the recipes, but I have to try them again first. And I feel quite traumatized right now. I'll get back to you. The only thing which keeps me going right now is Lena's kind words: "Extreme disasters are meant to be forgotten."

If you want to read about more successful candy-making, head over to A Cat In The Kitchen who posts about it here and here.