Black Walnuts

[RWood]

I happen to love black walnuts, but I know they can be an acquired taste for some.  I have some in my freezer and am working on my ideas for some bon bons for Christmas.  

I'm having issues pairing the flavor. I know See's has the buttercream type filling but that's not what I'm looking for.

I'm thinking about orange, caramel, bourbon?  I always loved black walnut cake when I was little. It had cream cheese frosting, so maybe a cheesecake filling?

Any other ideas?

[curls]

Black walnuts are great in banana bread. Not sure how you would translate that into a bon bon. I like your cheesecake & black walnut idea.

[RWood]

17 hours ago, curls said:

Black walnuts are great in banana bread. Not sure how you would translate that into a bon bon. I like your cheesecake & black walnut idea.

 

Right now I'm leaning toward a cheesecake ganache, with a little orange and maybe bourbon with the chopped black walnuts in a dark shell.  We'll see when I narrow down my list of what I'll make.

[kayb]

Not candy-related, but --

 

I'm a pecan girl. I live in pecan country, and pecans go in a lot of my dishes. They're in my salads, in my stuffing for butterflied pork loin, on top of my sweet potatoes, combined with my cranberries at the holidays. And, dear God, in my Chex mix, and candied or savory in my gift baskets.

 

But if I'm doing baked goods, I want walnuts. Banana bread, pumpkin bread, most any kind of muffin that wants nuts. I have recently discovered preserved walnuts, and have fallen in love. Mr. Google tells me they're immature walnuts, picked in midsummer, green hull and all, and preserved by boiling a long, long time in a sugar syrup. I'm trying to decide how to use them in holiday treats. And if I could located me a walnut tree (I have two pecans), and thought I could get up in it without killing my fool self, I'd pick me some green ones and try to preserve them.

 

[RWood]

44 minutes ago, kayb said:

Not candy-related, but --

 

I'm a pecan girl. I live in pecan country, and pecans go in a lot of my dishes. They're in my salads, in my stuffing for butterflied pork loin, on top of my sweet potatoes, combined with my cranberries at the holidays. And, dear God, in my Chex mix, and candied or savory in my gift baskets.

 

But if I'm doing baked goods, I want walnuts. Banana bread, pumpkin bread, most any kind of muffin that wants nuts. I have recently discovered preserved walnuts, and have fallen in love. Mr. Google tells me they're immature walnuts, picked in midsummer, green hull and all, and preserved by boiling a long, long time in a sugar syrup. I'm trying to decide how to use them in holiday treats. And if I could located me a walnut tree (I have two pecans), and thought I could get up in it without killing my fool self, I'd pick me some green ones and try to preserve them.

 

I'm a pecan girl too.  Growing up in GA, we had some of the best.  We even have my mom's sister's send us bags.  We just get handfuls and eat them, more than putting them in stuff.  The ones here is CA are the pits compared to those.

But I love black walnuts, hickory nuts, any nut really.  I looked for hickory nuts online and a 1 lb bag shelled was about $30.  I believe it, because me and a hammer have tried cracking them lots 🤪.

 

I have a friend that does tons of preserving and canning.  She had gotten some green walnuts and made Nocino with it.  I wished I still lived in her area, because I wanted to try it :).