Peanut Brittle

I've been waiting for a chance to try this recipe from Kate Zuckerman's book The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle, and a "Food Day" at work tomorrow is the perfect excuse. I like this book a lot; it's well written and contains a ton of information and tips. She shares the pastry chef perspective and that adds so much to a recipe that a novice like myself can understand more than just ingredients and cooking times but also methodology, presentation, and repeatability.

This recipe is a perfect example. Just about every peanut brittle recipe I've seen is basically boiling the sugar, adding the nuts, cooling in a pan, and then breaking into pieces. No frills. The steps Kate lays out allow for variation at certain places while still maintaining your ability to recreate a well-finished piece. Cooling the caramel and grinding it allows you to change nuts within the same batch. Want to do some almond and some peanut? No problem. Another benefit of grinding? It gives you more control over what the final product will look like so you can make circles or tubes instead of broken glass-like pieces. That's just a great way to impress your friends.

Following this recipe made me feel more like a "chef" than a cook, if I may be so bold so obviously I can't recommend this book enough.


Thin and Delicate Peanut Brittle
from page 204 of the The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelleby Kate Zuckerman

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup ground peanuts
1/4 tsp. finely ground sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350° F and prepare a 11"x17" baking pan with parchment, nonstick baking pad, or aluminum foil.

In a small, heavy-bottomed pan combine the water, sugar, and cream of tartar and heat over high heat. When the mixture begins a rolling boil, reduce the heat to about medium-high. Once the color changes to a golden brown caramel color, remove from the heat and pour into the prepared pan to cool.

Once the caramel has cooled, break it up into small pieces. Use a food processor or coffee grinder to grind the caramel into a fine table sugarlike consistency. Combine this with the ground peanuts.

Prepare your baking pan again. Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and spread very thin (1/8 inch thick). Bake the candy for about 4-6 minutes, until it melts and bubbles. Remove from the oven and evenly sprinkle the salt over the candy. Let cool and break into pieces to serve.

This will keep for up to 2 weeks in a sealed container in a cool, dry place. Humidity will rob this brittle of its crunch.

Sugar Almonds

While doing research for an article about Stollen for Just Baking, I ran across a recipe for sugar almonds that piqued my curiosity. I was intrigued by the simple list of ingredients and the method used to create a hard candy shell, so I gave it a try. The results were surprisingly excellent. The candy coating gave the almonds a good crunch when you bit into them. The flavors of the sugar, cinnamon, and almonds were well balanced. No flavor overpowered another. The small amount of cinnamon was noticeable and highlighted the sweetness of the sugar. These almonds would be popular served at a party or on a dessert tray. They would also make a wonderful gift from your kitchen, in a decorated jar or container.

The key to the recipe is not overcooking the almonds, a lesson I learned the hard way. While preparing a batch I was paged for work and ended up overcooking the almonds because of the distraction. Although the shell still formed and had the desired crunchiness, the flavor and texture of slightly burnt almonds made them unpleasant to eat. I also made batches in different size pans (two and four quart) and found that the bigger pan made it easier to keep the almonds separate at the end.

The recipe is from German Cookery: The Crown Classic Cookbook Series (Crown Classic Cookbook). It’s recipe number 494 (page 199), which is in the candies section of the chapter entitled “Christmas Cakes and Candies”.

Sugar Almonds
4 Tbls. water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup shelled almonds (do not use blanched)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Grease a jelly roll or similar pan and place two forks by it. Combine water and sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and heat until this forms a thick syrup. The water will boil off. When the syrup is ready, remove it from heat, gently add in the almonds, and stir constantly. Continue to stir until the sugar syrup begins to crackle, which does not take long and occurs while the syrup is still liquid. Place this over heat again. The sugar will crystallize and form a white grainy coating; continue heating and stirring until all the sugar is melted again. Once all the sugar is melted, mix in the cinnamon. Remove from heat and pour onto greased pan. Separate the almonds with the forks, working quickly before they cool and fuse together.


As posted at Sugar Savvy or as one of the featured articles at Well Fed...

Sources for Sugar Almonds:

• German Cookery: The Crown Classic Cookbook Series (Crown Classic Cookbook)

Snow White Caramel Apples

I saw this and knew I had to try making it. The recipe is available at tartelette and is relatively easy to make, its just sugar, lemon juice, and water. This is my first time using my candy thermometer and working with sugar like this. I think it turned out pretty good. Here is a picture of my apples (I know, I need practice taking pictures of food).

By the way, check out tartelette, lots of great ideas and food!

Found via Slashfood