Discarded gifts, eaten panettone, bottles of uncorked bubbles. One more thing is missing to sweetly end the bailamme of the holidays: the Befana stocking. The shops are now teeming with pre-packaged socks, ready to hang without making the slightest effort. Yet it doesn't take long to turn the kitchen into one small candy factory. At one time it was customary to fill the Befana stocking with sweets, dried fruit and citrus fruits. Bad children, however, had to deal with coal. To decide what to prepare you can therefore start from one revisiting tradition.

Caramelized hazelnuts and almonds

A quick and easy recipe, also useful for recycling dried fruit left over from the festive meals. Just a glass of hazelnuts is one of almonds, a glass of water is one of sugar. Boil the water and sugar in a non-stick pan over low heat. When this has melted, remove from the heat and add the dried fruit. Stir with a wooden spoon, until the hazelnuts and almonds are wrapped in sugar. Put them back on the stove and caramelise them, stirring constantly. Once ready, arrange them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper separate them from each other with a fork before they cool completely.

Candied oranges

In this period, if there is one thing that is not missing in the house, oranges. To make them candied, a kilo is enough, in addition to 600 g of sugar and a liter of water. It starts by dividing the sliced ​​oranges. With a knife remove the pulp and cut the peel into strips. Boil the zest in a saucepan for 5 minutes, drain and allow to cool. In the meantime, put the water and sugar on the fire, melt everything until one is obtained syrup. Add the rinds and boil on low heat for at least a couple of hours. Leave to rest for one night and repeat the operation even the next day.

Sweet coal

Even sweet coal you can do it at home. We start from icing: put two egg whites in a bowl, add a few drops of lemon juice, two tablespoons of pure alcohol, 300 g of icing sugar and whip everything with an electric whisk. At the end add a spoonful of black dye powder and mix until a thick and dark glaze is obtained. Separately, in a steel saucepan, prepare the syrup with 10 cl of water, 300 g of granulated sugar and another spoonful of coloring. After 10-15 minutes pour two tablespoons of bain-marie glaze into the syrup. Stir quickly and immediately pour the mixture into a mold lined with parchment paper. Do harden the coal at room temperature.

Cake Pops

With a view to recycling, cake pops can be prepared, balls covered with chocolate and decorated with sugars. Instead of sponge cake you can use for example panettone or pandoro. 400 g crumbled are needed. Add four spoons of your own favorite jam, stirring with your hands until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Form some balls no larger than a walnut, place them on a dripping pan covered with parchment paper and let them rest for half an hour in freezer. Melt the chocolate, white, dark or milk, according to taste. Stick plastic or wooden sticks into the balls removed from the freezer and dip them in the melted chocolate. Shake them to remove excess chocolate and garnish as desired with hazelnuts, coconut, colored sugars.

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