Pinecone roasted almond – 5 pcs

Sawade Candied Almond Pine Cones with Almond Brittle Center

Sawade Candied Almond Pine Cones are pine-cone-shaped chocolates made of dark chocolate, filled with candied almonds and crunchy almond brittle. Each pine cone is wrapped in a different colored foil and topped with a gold cord for hanging on a branch.

Candied Almond Pine Cones are filled pine-cone-shaped chocolates by Sawade in Berlin-Reinickendorf, featuring an outer shell of dark chocolate with at least 60 percent cocoa and an inner truffle filling made of candied almonds with brittle shards. We package five cones in a cellophane bag tied with a satin ribbon.

It crunches, it melts, it remains caramelly

The foil opens with a soft crackle, and the very first bite makes it clear that two things are happening simultaneously in this chocolate that usually occur separately. The truffle filling made from candied almonds melts, while the brittle shards within crunch in your mouth. This contrast is the reason why the second piece is just as tempting as the first.

Caramelly, nutty, slightly smoky – the filling tastes like a bag from a Christmas market, just without the sticky fingers. This is taken care of by the dark chocolate shell, which keeps the sugar in check and balances the sweetness. Candied almonds on their own might be enough after two pieces, but under dark chocolate, one bag goes a long way.

At around 20 g, it is the largest piece in the entire tree decoration collection and should therefore be eaten in two bites. Gold, turquoise, orange, pink, and green lie side by side in the bag, making it easy to see at a glance which branch has already been raided.

Why the sugar has to melt twice

Candied almonds are made in a copper kettle, where sugar and almonds are stirred until the sugar crystallizes into a white coating.

The nuts then look dry and dull, and an observer might think something has gone wrong. Only during the second melting phase does the white sand turn into a brown crust that tastes of caramel and gives the almonds that dark tone by which they are instantly recognizable.

Those who take them off the heat too soon end up with sugar without color; those who stay too long end up with bitterness instead of caramel. In between lie a few minutes during which a person, not a program, must stand at the kettle. Afterwards, part of the almonds is incorporated into the truffle filling, while the other part is crushed into brittle and folded in. Once the hollow shell is filled and sealed, Sawade wraps every pine cone by hand in foil, color by color.

Chocolates that are allowed to hang on the Christmas tree

Sawade spins the hollow chocolate shells themselves so that the walls are nowhere too thin and the cord can support their weight even on the twelfth day.

There is no alcohol in these cones, so children can also nibble from the tree. For a medium-sized tree, plan on three bags distributed over the bottom two-thirds, as chocolate should not be placed directly above a candle. Kept cool, dark, and dry, the shell remains shiny; in the refrigerator, however, it attracts moisture and turns dull. Therefore, hang the pine cones on the tree shortly before the holiday and not already when you first set it up.

Wrapped as a sphere, the same filling is called Candied Almond Chocolate Spheres, and those who prefer something more bitter can reach for the Gold Nuts with dark nougat. See more from Wittestraße at Sawade Berlin, and more dark treats under Chocolate. By New Year's Eve, there is rarely one left hanging.