Candied Almonds GF DF

When I was thinking of making some candied nuts for an art opening the other day, my husband recalled these delicious spiced almonds we had in Estonia a few Christmases ago. In the beautiful old town at the center of the city, where the majority of the buildings date back to the 14th century, there was a fantastic mix of traditional holiday market crafts and food and modern contemporary design. We had a lovely time there and enjoyed reminiscing with these tasty treats this evening.

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Ingredients

5 cups almonds or whatever nuts you like
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water
2 Tbs cinnamon
1 tsp cardamon
1 tsp cocoa
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt

You can make this in any quantity, just follow the ratio. However much nuts you have, use half that in sugar, and half that again in water.

Directions

Mix sugar and spices in a saucepan that is plenty big for your ingredients.
Add water and turn stove to medium.
Stirring frequently, bring to a boil.
Add nuts and keep stirring.
I try to keep the heat as low as possible while still bubbling, so I monkeyed around a lot. Medium or just under medium should be about right.
Stir for what feels like forever.
The sugar will get goopy, kind of stringy, then the sides of the pan will start to get crusty and you are almost in the home stretch. Patience.
When all the liquid has evaporated and the nuts are all crusty like the picture, dump them out onto a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper and let them cool.
This is important because they are not crunchy and delicious until they have fully cooled.
You can sprinkle them with a little sea salt if you are a salty girl like me.
Enjoy!