Category Archives: Swedish Pearl Sugar

Well – here is another recipe using that beautiful (and delicious) Swedish Pearl Sugar!

Mandel Kakor (Swedish Almond Butter Cookies) looks a bit like biscotti but, upon tasting, are most certainly a butter cookie.  I know 2 oz of almond extract sounds insane, but it mellows out considerably when baking and the end result is perfect.

I’ve really been enjoying all these non-chocolate, old-world cookies this year.  They are generally easy to make but have a subtle richness which I have truly appreciated.

Enjoy!

Mandel Kakor

from Relish Magazine

Ingredients –

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 oz almond extract (2 small bottles)
• 3 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• Swedish Pearl Sugar or cake decorating sprinkles

1 – Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 - Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Using a mixer at medium-high speed, beat until light.  Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well.  Add almond extract and heavy cream.  Mix well.

3 - Turn dough out and working into a ball.  Cut into 4 portions and shape each into a ball.  Flatten each ball into a 4-inch circle.  Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

4 - Place dough rounds on a baking sheet.  Brush tops with beaten egg.  Sprinkle Pearl Sugar on top.

5 - Bake 20 minutes.  Remove from over.  Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees.

6 - Cut each round into 10 slices, then cut each slice in half (except the short ends).  (I’m not sure if I didn’t slice mine thin enough or if my rounds didn’t spread as much as they should, but I only cut 8 slices.) Return to oven and bake 20 minutes more for crispy cookies or 10 minutes more for chewier cookies.  Makes about 70 cookies.

Easy and delicious!

Well, my Swedish friend asked for Chocolate Balls a while ago and the Swedish Pearl Sugar finally arrived in the mail.  So, I opted to get us a pre-made dinner last night (some sort of stir-fry I just heated up in a wok) and use my cooking time to whip up dessert instead.  It was so easy and took no time whatsoever.  I suppose next time I could actually properly make dinner and dessert….but hey, he should be thankful I do anything at all, right? 

I used a recipe I found on Anne’s Food blog.  Anne has a great blog and being a Swede in Sweden I thought I would use her recipe and hope for true Swedish authenticity!

Chocolate Balls

from Anne’s Food

Ingredients -

• 250 ml rolled oats
• 50 ml sugar
• 50 ml cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 2 tbsp hot, strong coffee (I actually use instant espresso powder for a stronger taste)
• 50 g unsalted butter
• To decorate: pearl sugar or coconut flakes

A note on measurements.  Obviously they are metric since Anne is Swedish.  I actually just used a food scale to weigh out my ingredients in grams and ml.

Directions –

1. Mix oatmeal, sugar, cocoa, vanilla sugar (or extract) and a pinch of salt. Cut the butter into cubes and add them to the bowl.  Pour in the coffee.

2. Work with your hands, and mix until you have a uniform, thick dough.  Shape small balls, about the size of a walnut, and roll them in your chosen decoration.

3. Place in the fridge for a little while before you eat .  (they’ll firm up and they’re much better that way)

(Next time I’m having the Swede bring over his DSLR camera to take a prettier picture of my finished product!)

This recipe was easy-peasy and the results were lovely and delicious.   The Swede confirmed that they were exactly like the ones back home and we proceeded to eat the entire batch in one night.  (This makes a very small batch,maybe 12ish?…I would at least double it anytime I make it in the future.)  I would certainly put this in my recipe box as something to make in 5-10 minutes when someone is going to drop by for coffee.