Peladillas are small Spanish treats consisting of toasted almonds encased in a hard sugar coating. There is also a variety made with pine nuts, which is then called pinones. Peladillas are characterized by a crunchy texture, and a sweet, nutty flavor.
Along with turrones and polvorones, peladillas are traditionally served during the Christmas festivities in Spain.
Roudoudous are traditional candies originating from France. These sweets were especially popular from the 1950s to the 1970s, when local confectioners drizzled fresh caramel or fruit-flavored syrup into a seashell and left the concoction to harden.
Roudoudous were one of the favorite sweet treats for children, and nowadays, the commercial versions are usually sold in plastic shells. The sweet treat is enjoyed just like a lollipop – by licking it until it disappears.
These candies are traditionally produced in Flavigny from a recipe dating back to 1591. Anise seeds are first placed in a pan and coated with a combination of sugar and water, and then the pans are rotated, making the candies smooth. It takes about 15 days to transform a small seed into a candy that weighs one gram.
The candies come in ten natural flavors – anise, blackcurrant, lemon, ginger, tangerine, mint, orange blossom, liquorice, violet, and rose. Regardless of the flavor, the finished candy is always called Anis de Flavigny.
Bêtise de Cambrai is a popular candy and a specialty of the town of Cambrai. Their original flavor is mint, but nowadays there is a great range of flavors such as apple, chocolate, violet, and cherry. The candies are usually decorated with a caramel stripe which gives them extra sweetness.
Bêtises come individually wrapped in cellophane, and are often packaged in tin boxes. They are so popular that the French consume an average of 3.5 kg of these sweets per year. Interestingly, two houses have a dispute over the candy - Afchain and Despinoy.
This Portuguese confectionery is prepared with peeled and roasted sweet almonds, and it comes in three different versions: an uncoated variety that is simply dusted with sugar, the standard white-coated variety, and a dark version that employs chocolate or cocoa powder.
The most common one is the coated version which is covered in a mixture of white sugar, water, and (optionally) egg whites. The finished product is easily distinguishable by sugar nozzles that form around the kernels during the production. Traditionally associated with Easter and other festivities, this local Moncorvo confectionery has been produced for centuries, and it is still made following the traditional techniques and a centuries-old process of production.
Turrón de Agramunt is the nougat made in the municipality of Agramunt in the Catalan district of Urgell in the Province of Lérida. It is produced using honey, peeled and roasted almonds or hazelnuts, sugar, egg whites and covered in wafers.
It has a firm and crunchy texture, yet melts in the mouth. In order to prepare this sweet nougat, the old nougat-makers used to roast the hazelnuts before mixing them with the honey and stirred the mixture until it became homogeneous. Today, it is still a hand-made delicacy prepared following the traditional recipe.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Pralines roses, or "pink pralines," are a type of confectionery from France, particularly associated with Lyon. These candies are made by coating almonds with a vibrant pink sugar coating. They are both visually striking and delicious, and they serve as a key ingredient in several traditional French desserts.
The main ingredients are almonds and sugar, with pink food coloring giving the pralines their distinctive color. The preparation involves coating the almonds in pink sugar syrup, which is heated until it crystallizes around the nuts, creating a crunchy, sweet coating.
Turrón de Alicante is a dry, firm nougat, covered with a smooth wafer produced in the municipality of Jijona in Alicante province using raw ingredients coming from Alicante, Castellón and Valencia. It is of Arabic origin and traditionally made with peeled and toasted almonds, honey, egg whites and sugar.
The key to preparing an authentic Alicante turrón is in the selection of raw materials and the correct manner of mixing the ingredients and choosing the right moment, 'el punto de la bola', when the mixture is ready to be rolled into a ball to become this extraordinary nougat.
Mazapán de Toledo is a type of marzipan produced in the province of Toledo. It is made by grinding and kneading peeled almonds with sugar until they form a paste. The almonds must constitute at least 50% of the final product to be sold as 'Mazapán de Toledo'.
The tradition of making the marzipan has been brought to the central and southern Spain by the Arabs during the medieval ages. Today, the Marzipan from Toledo is still made in the traditional way following the rules of the small-scale production from the 16th century, thus ensuring superior quality and taste.
French pralines are traditional sweet products made with a combination of caramelized sugar and whole almonds. They bear little resemblance to the classic, chocolate-based Belgian pralines, though these caramel-coated almonds are occasionally ground into a fine powder called pralin, which is commonly used as a filling in Belgian pralines.
It is believed that Ursuline nuns who arrived in Louisiana in the 1700s brought the tradition of preparing French pralines. The original recipe was later adapted with butter, cream, and pecans to create the now-classic American pecan praline.
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