Awesome Swedish Christmas Candy
Dec 13th, 2009 | By Christopher | Category: EnglishUnfortunately the international Christmas recipe calendar addition we were going to feature today will not be available. So, since today is Lucia (a very special day leading up to Christmas in Sweden) I thought I'd share a typical Swedish Christmas candy know as Knäck.
What is Knäck?
Knäck is a very sweet hard caramel candy flavored with vanilla and almonds. It is very simple and easy to make (given that the instructions you are using are any good). Knäck is something that is eaten in almost every single Swedish household starting on the first of Advent.
How to make knäck:
Ingredients
200ml rich cream (at least 30% fat, 40% is better)
200g sugar
8g vanilla sugar
200ml syrup
100g almonds
100 small paper or foil cups (the kind you use for muffins, but a lot smaller)
You will need a thick-bottomed cooking pot, or even better a teflon-coated pan with straight high edges. The larger the diameter of the pot or pan, the quicker you will be done. Set it on the stove at maximum heat and stir together cream, sugar, vanilla sugar and syrup. As soon as it starts to boil; turn down the heat as far as you can, while still keeping the mix at a boil. Depending on the pan you are using the knäck will need to boil for 30-50 minutes. The mixture will turn a dark shade of golden-brown when it is nearing completion. To test if it is ready get a spoon and drop some of your knäck mixture into a glass of water. If you can form the mixture into a ball with your fingers, the mix is ready.
Finley chop the almonds and add them to the knäck mixture when it is ready. Then using a spoon divide the mixture among the foil or paper cups. Personally I prefer to use foil, but it really doesn't matter.
Let the knäck cool, and then you're done!!
To clean the pot and any utensils you used, the easiest way is to put the utensils in the pot, fill with water, add dish washing liquid and bring to a boil... anything else just doesn't seem to gut it.
Enjoy!
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