Salty-Sweet Walnuts and Chile-Sweet Pecans

So its the holidays and there's chocolate flying everywhere around the cafe. For those of you who have yet to visit, it also houses my complete production line (and no, its nothing like the infamous I Love Lucy episode). This is definently the busiest time of the year, though, and to help push out a large order I recently filled, I decided to treat myself to a new tool: a candy tumbling drum. Its basically a large rotating stainless steel drum that attaches to the front of my Kitchen Aid, though much more expensive than you might think. Pretty much any pastry tool of professional grade is, unfortunately!

Well, long story short, I'm excited about using it in production on a new line of chocolate and sugared nuts of which I've been developing recently. Salty-Sweet Walnuts and Chile-Sweet Pecans are two of a few new things rolling around in my head. The first is roasted walnuts and cocoa nibs candied with grey sea-salt, and the later is roasted pecans and cocoa nibs candied with chiles and smoked paprika. And they both come in these adorable square tins! Take a look: