Happy Sweet Holiday!

It's Christmas morning, and right now I'm making rice pudding for breakfast for me and my boyfriend. We're still on the Faroe Islands, for some different reasons, which means spending Christmas quite far away from home. And while I do miss my family, it doesn't bother me spending the holidays here. Two years ago, I felt fed up with it all and went to Berlin during a few days and ate vegan hamburgers and it was great. Then I could go home and spend a "small Christmas" with my closest ones and without all the hustle.

Making Orangettes.

In the Nordic countries, the main day to celebrate is the 24th. Traditions vary, but in my family it has always been like this in short terms; waking up early and open up your stocking and having breakfast together, go to grandma and drink mulled wine, watch Donald Duck (huuuuge Swedish tradition) at 3 pm, eat loads of food, get gifts from Santa and then eat sweets and then go home with the bus. This year, we've had to make our own traditions, which actually feels really good. Since it's only the two of us, it has been a bit limiting, but we've made the best out of it. I'll write a post about our 24th and 25th once they're over, but I thought I'd share some sweets with you today.

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti.

We don't have many close friends here, but two families has grown close to us during our stay, and we wanted to give them something. We decided on gift baskets filled with sweets, because, well, it's the holidays after all and what's better than home made sweets then? I thought about what to put in there and this is the things that made the final cut:
- Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti (from Veganomicon)
- Orangettes (from Smitten Kitchen)
- Chocolate Toffee (recipe below)
- Snickerdoodles (from vegetarian times/have cake, will travel)
- Gingerbread cut-out cookies (from The Post Punk Kitchen)
- Peanut butter fudge (recipe below)

Snickerdoodles in the making.

Super Simple Peanut Butter Fudge
This might not be the most authentic fudge, but hey, it has THREE ingredients and tastes amazing, so I don't really care. You could sub some hazelnut-chocolate spread for 1/3 of the peanut butter if you want to and garnish with what ever floats your boat. I did, and topped with chopped peanuts. This is best stored in the fridge.

3/4 cup vegan margarine
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar

Melt the margarine in a saucepan and add the peanut butter. Stir until melted and dissolved. Add the sugar by the cup and stir until completely incorporated. Put the fudge in a pan that is suitable for your desired thickness of the fudge. Chill until firm (about 45 minutes) and cut in cubes.


Chocolate Toffee
Yet another almost embarrassingly easy recipe, but let me tell you, it's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. You can wrap the toffees in something if you'd like, I used aluminium foil. That way you don't have to worry about them sticking together.

100 g vegan margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
4 tbs cocoa powder

Melt the margarine in a small saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Keep stirring from time to time until it reaches 120 -125 C (248-257 F), about 5 minutes from when it starts bubbling. Pour on a parchment paper and let rest in room temperature until quite firm. Use a pair of scissors to cut the toffee into pieces.

Gingerbread cut-out cookies.

Happy Holidays everyone!