Our grandmothers, great-grandmothers used to make delicious sweets for Christmas. I don’t have the exact recipe my great-grandmother used; however, I have this modernized version, it works as a great replacement. The three main ingredients are raisins, walnuts, and coconuts. Along with some other flavorings, they are made into small balls. Then, they are dipped in chocolate of your choice and voila! … this healthy sweet AKA szaloncukor is ready to be hung on your Christmas tree or if you can’t resist you can just eat is as it is!
In the old days, they used honey, nuts and dried fruits like quince, raisins and apples. They also added foraged herbs that varied from country to country and region to region and often included fennel, lavender, rose petals, juniper berries, sumac etc. Ever since the exotic spices arrived from the East, people have been using cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg etc. I personally really like adding shredded coconuts and oranges as they are readily available and taste delicious.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup walnut, chopped
- 3/4 cup raisins, chopped
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- peel of 1/2 orange, grated or 1 tsp dried orange peel
- juice if 1 orange or 1 Tbsp orange juice
- pinch of salt, more for decorating
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 300 gr or 11 oz chocolate chips
- 6 Tbsp coconut oil or unsalted butter
METHOD
- Mix the raisins, nuts and shredded coconut. Place them in a bowl.
- Add the vanilla extract, orange peel and the juice, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Mix.
- Put them in the fridge for 10 – 20 min so dough is not too warm or soft.
- Take a handful out of the mixture at a time.
- Create the bon bons. Make either smaller balls 1 inch in diameter, or make rectangular shapes.
- In a double boiler, start slowly melting the chocolate chips. Add the butter. Mix until you get a ‘flowy’ consistency, meaning when you lift up a ladle full of chocolate, the chocolate flows down evenly.
- Dip each bon bon in the melted chocolate. I used a fork and let the unused chocolate fall back in the pot.
- Place them on a wire rack and let them cool.
- Cut out squares of paper or cloth, big enough to cover the prepared bon bons (about 15 x 1 5 cm or 5 x 5 inch). Parchment paper works great too. Place the bon bons in the middle of this squared shaped paper or cloth and wrap the ends around. Twist the ends tightly to create the classic szaloncukor shape. Please see my picture for clarification.
Merry Christmas! Boldog Karácsonyt!
Photo and text by twincitiesherbs.com.
Twin Cities Herbs 