Walnut Praline & Candied Cinnamon-Salted Hazelnuts

About Us

Welcome to our little virtual corner! I’m a single mother raising my wonderful son, Ruben, who has grown into a remarkable teenager. For years, I was the sole breadwinner as a Krav Maga instructor, balancing the challenges of parenthood and work on my own.

When Ruben started kindergarten, I embarked on a new journey by studying healthcare management at Semmelweis University, specializing in health tourism management. After graduating, I began working in my field and experienced firsthand the tragic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as a healthcare manager in a state hospital.

As the pandemic subsided, I transitioned into private healthcare, where I currently work as a practice manager. Meanwhile, our family moved from a small town to Vác, a charming historic Danube riverside city near Budapest.

Here, we embrace the everyday moments and joys of life together. If you want to hear more stories about us, you’re warmly invited to visit the original Daysonpaper blog at S&Ru’s Diary on daysonpaper.blog.hu.

So I decided to try living for a year on an international stage and see if there are other mothers in similar shoes for whom this diary could be a support on the harder days—just as it has been a support for me when I was able to look beyond the difficulties and sincerely believe in my own strength.

Thank you for stopping by!

This morning, we dove into making some mouthwatering treats with the little one, which ended up with two different results…

I have to admit, the walnut praline actually started as just candied walnuts, but I mismeasured the amount of water (we carefully measured drop by drop with Ruben, but somehow the scale was off). Still, it wasn’t a loss: in the end, we created a magnificent praline with our golden-haired helper, who cheered us on the whole time! ‹3

On the other hand, we started the salted hazelnuts with precise care, and while the praline took about half an hour, the second batch—salted hazelnuts—was ready in just 10 minutes! Maybe we were just too cautious with the walnuts… (:

Recipe and preparation:

200 g nuts (we used walnuts and salted hazelnuts)
100 g cane sugar
40 ml water (not 100 ml!! haha)
2 tsp cinnamon (the original recipe called for 1, but for us, even two wasn’t enough)
1 vanilla bean, scraped

Bring the water, sugar, and spices to a boil, then add the nuts. Stir continuously and let the sugar crystallize on the nuts. Pour onto baking paper and let cool. Heavenly.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

If you ask us, these are tried-and-true recipes for dessert—check them out here, here, here, and here!

Get ready for a flavor explosion…! (;