Candied Macadamias // Vegan Blogs

I'm not sure why, but things suddenly seem to be feeling a lot more Wintery over here. I'm in two minds on how I feel about this. I feel as though I haven't had the chance to enjoy Autumn at all yet, its rained quite a bit and I've had to deal with sodden golden leaves rather than the crunchy ones I've grown to love. I haven't even carved a pumpkin yet  (although they're in the kitchen waiting) , I've missed out on picking brambles and already the morning weather reports are saying snow will be here by the end of the week.

But I'm loving that shops have their Christmas decorations out, and that my coat is on every day. I'm in the market for some wellies, excited to be eating a lot of soups, getting the blankets out and slipper socks on. Best of all though, I'm counting the days until the Christkindelmarkt arrives in town.

The German market comes here every Winter and its my favourite place! There are loads of stalls full of the most amazing things. I love all the carved wooden toys, and hearing the oompah band playing in the beer tent. My favourite part of all though has to be the Candied Macadamias. Man I can't believe how good they are. Soooo, in honor of the Christkingelmarkt and the looming Winter I made my own and here's what I did.

What you'll need:
      - 250g of plain Macadamias
      - 2tbsp of vegan butter (I use Vitalite)
      - Caster Sugar
      - Ground Cinnamon
      - Sea Salt
      - Grease-proof paper or tin Foil

You'll need to do:
       - Warm up a dry frying pan on a medium-high heat, spoon in your butter, with about 4tbsp of sugar. When the butter starts to melt throw in your nuts and stir it all together.
       - Once all the nuts have a covering of the mixture sprinkle in your cinnamon. You can do this completely to taste, I use enough to lightly cover all the macadamias. Scrunch in a little sea salt. Keep mixing.
        -Your caramel should be bubbling up by now and thickening (like my photo below). If it seems dry before all the macadamias are covered, add more butter, if its too wet add in more sugar.

        - Once you have a nice even coating on all the nuts, empty your pan out onto grease proof paper or tin foil and separate the nuts out with a fork (they'll be hot!!). Sprinkle with more cinnamon and a little more salt.   

        - Now the hard part, wait!  You have to wait until they have completely cooled, they'll have crisped up when they're ready and be even more tasty.

       - Serve up in a paper cone and enjoy!

I really can't believe I haven't thought about making these at home before, they are super tasty. The recipe above makes about 3 cones, but I'll still be buying a bag at the market. Now, onto the pumpkins.