655. Madeira Cake

So here is a whole selection of sweet treats. Before Christmas my mum went on a cruise around the Mediterranean including a visit to Madeira. While she was there she picked up some of their traditional local cake, which is totally different from the Madeira cake you get here. Madeira cake here is much like a pound cake, and frankly is just dull, but this was lightly spiced and very rich. Kind of akin to a Jamaica ginger cake but less sweet.

656. Cornish Fudge

I got some fudge for Christmas. Proper Cornish cream fudge is the best - it’s probably the only thing in the world where I’m more than happy with just plain vanilla. I’m kind of obsessed when it comes to fudge because as far as I’m concerned, fudge is soft and creamy and squidgy. If anyone ever gives me that crumbly, sugary abomination that masquerades as fudge then I will not be happy; that stuff is just a waste of sugar. 

657. Peppermint Rock

I actually got this rock back in the summer when I was on holiday. It’s one of those things that you absolutely have to buy when you go to a British seaside down, but that you actually will probably never end up eating. The first few licks taste minty and sweet and yummy, but then you remember that you’re eating a stick of sugar and you’re tongue starts to feel funny and so you put it down and never eat the rest of it.

657 down, 1139 to go

613. Crystallized Ginger

I find that ginger is one of those flavours that really divides people - you love it or hate it, and I am firmly in the first group. I adore ginger everything - ginger beer, gingerbread, ginger tea, and this, crystallized ginger. As far as I’m concerned if you combine ginger and sugar you cannot possibly go wrong. This was good ginger as it was nice and sweet on the outside, but it gave way to a super spicy, tongue-tingling centre. Yum.

613 down, 1183 to go

610. Marrons Glaces

Marrons glaces are candied chestnuts - basically chestnuts that are just soaked in a sugar syrup until they are just these soft but hard, sticky but crunchy balls of super sweet nuttiness. I was kind of dubious as I’m used to having chestnuts savoury - either in a stuffing or with brussel sprouts, or my favourite way where they are just roasted and then covered in a metric ton of salt. They’re supposed to be a delicacy, and can be pretty expensive though so I guessed that there had to be something good about them. It turned out that they were actually really nice, something similar to a praline but with a much softer texture and a hint of that unique chestnutty flavour. They are very sweet though so you would not want more than one at a time.

610 down, 1186 to go

587. Lavender

This year I made a lot of homemade sweets for Christmas gifts - chocolate-covered pretzels, candy cane fudge, fleur de sel caramel, and some lavender truffles for my mum. I infused some double cream with dried lavender flowers and then made a very basic truffle recipe by stirring the cream into a mix of milk and dark chocolate. My mum and I both love floral flavours (especially with chocolate) - lavender, rose and violet are all delicious. I do understand people who don’t like it though, eating something which smells like it should be a body cream is certainly an acquired taste.

587 down, 1209 to go

575. Candy Floss/Cotton Candy

Now this was much more like it. After my fish pie, my friend and I decided to share one of the Seaside Sweets Platters for dessert. We have never had a dessert like it; it was amazing, kind of like something Heston would serve up on his Feast shows. Basically it was gourmet versions of a bunch of traditional British seaside treats. From left to right: Mini toffee apple, champagne jelly, cotton candy, pirate punch, marshmallows with chocolate sauce, turkish delight ice cream, and fruit rock with biscuit sand in the front. It looked so pretty it was almost a shame to eat it.

I also had cotton candy in the more traditional way - sat on the beach whilst making a sandcastle and watching the donkeys walk by.

575 down, 1221 to go

534. Liquorice Drop

When I went to Bruges earlier this year, as well as a huge box of delicious Belgian chocolates, I also picked up some salted licorice. I love salted licorice because it has that awesome salty/sweet combination that I adore so much. If you get the proper stuff, the saltiness in this licorice goes right through your nose and makes it feel all tingly and kind of like you’ve actually just inhaled a bunch of sea water, which is a sensation that I’m never quite sure if I enjoy (like wasabi).

535. Single Estate Chocolate

As an evening treat, I had the licorice, and then I also had a few squares of this dark chocolate, which comes from Caracas. It tasted so complex compared to regular dark chocolate. It was fruity, and it was also meaty. I know that sounds a weird thing to say about chocolate, but I always think that about good dark chocolate; it has that rich, almost savoury quality to it.

535 down, 1261 to go

513. Green Walnut Gliko

One of the mornings in Athens we went to the Central Market. It was incredible. There was just stall after stall of fresh fish and meat (being hacked up then and there with worryingly huge cleavers), luscious fresh fruit (at a tiny fraction of the price we pay at home), a huge range of spices, and then candied fruits like these. This is a green walnut - a young walnut before the shell has hardened - and the whole thing is candied in sugar syrup. The shell tasted a little fruity, but the centre still tasted like a walnut. It was interesting for sure. Enjoyable… I’m not so sure, but considering how amazing the rest of the Greek food was I couldn’t expect to love everything!

513 down, 1283 to go

496. Gianduja

Gianduja is a special Italian chocolate praline made with hazelnuts, and it is amazing (think Nutella, but better). My friend bought these little truffles for me for my birthday and they were filled with gianduja and then coated in crunchy sugar. As you can tell by the fact that I ate most of them before getting around to taking a picture, they were GOOD.

496 down, 1300 to go

448. Maple Candy

This (unsurprisingly) is another one from Quebec. My list specified only maple candy, and on seeing the multitude of varieties available (hard candy, fudge, creams, pressed sugar…) I decided that the way to go was definitely the maple taffy. It looked the most fun, the most delicious, and the most mapley. I had never seen them do this before so I was very excited. Literally they pour maple syrup out onto snow, leave it for a minute or so, and then you roll it up on a stick and suck it like a lollipop. You could pretty much feel your teeth falling out, but oh my god was it delicious. Absolutely a must try if you go to Quebec.

448 down, 1348 to go

392. Toffee Apple

Well I have to admit this picture is rather old… which I’m not sure is a good thing or not. It shows that on a few posts I am really very behind (bad) but it does at least mean that I haven’t been eating one of these outside of the acceptable late October-early November time period (good). I’m never quite sure whether I enjoy them or not. The taste is awesome, but I’m always gripped with a constant fear that my teeth are going to fall out. I do feel like it is a once-a-year necessity though.

392 down, 1404 to go