brittled nuts
As promised, a recipe for nut brittle, hopefully in time for any fall celebrations you're planning. It's cheap (depending on what nuts you use) and easy once you know what you're doing, but requires a candy thermometer and a healthy respect for boiling sugar.
BROWN SUGAR BRITTLE
Courtesy of Chef Ex-Hippie. She spent several years right after graduating from culinary school working for a local well-respected candy maker, under Chef Hip Older Dude from England (the one who knew who R. Crumb was). I think this is originally his formula. Called "grandma candy" by my class, along with things like fudge, divinity and pfeffermintztaler (fondant drops with mint, or what Junior Mints are made of):
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups nuts (a word about your nuts below)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Wax paper (or a silpat)
Sheet pan
Largest saucepan you've got
Wooden or nylon spoon (nylon's less porous and won't chip or splinter)
Latex gloves (they're in the nightstand next to the bed)
Candy thermometer
A word or six about sugar. I poked around for ways to circumvent the need for a candy thermometer, but I haven't found one yet. Sugar is such a pain to work with that there's no real way to get around specific temperatures, and while extremely experienced chefs can sometimes call it by eye, neither you nor I fit into that category. (My instructors at school always use thermometers in class.) It'll run you twenty to thirty dollars and up, so your initial batch of nut brittle turns into a significant investment, but it's worth adding a useful tool to your kitchen toolbox. You need one specifically for candy since a common kitchen thermometer only runs to about 200 degrees or so; sugar has a series of stages that goes up to nearly 400 degrees ("blackjack", or hopelessly scorched sugar, which will stink up your kitchen for days). Consider the silpat and nylon spoon while you're at the gadget store, but neither of them are necessary.
Before I get someone burnt ... sugar burns are painful, and mark the wary professional as well as the eager novice. Wear long sleeves if possible (making sure your cuffs won't catch on the pan). Wear those gloves. Go to the bathroom and call your mom now, since sugar jumps in temperature with no warning and once you're on the path, you can't turn back or put it on hold. Stay aware of what you're doing at all times and have a bowl of ice water nearby for burns. If some does get on you, don't touch it with bare skin or smear it; plunge the area in cold water or run it under the faucet and it'll fall off. And for God's sake, DON'T bend forward and put your face near the pot to see how it's doing. Geez! If your sugar does burn, be cool, dump it all out on the wax paper, wait til it cools completely, throw it away, turn on the rangetop fan, and start over. Never dump pure sugar down your drain unless you enjoy your plumber's company. And when it's time to clean your pan and spoon, fill the pan with water and bring it to a boil with the spoon in. Dump the sugar water down the drain (if diluted, it won't clog your pipes) and repeat until all the little smears of sugar are off. Sugar is scary only if you're being a doofus and not paying attention to what you're doing.
Make sure your pan is scrupulously clean. Spread several layers of wax paper on a sheet pan (or lay out your silpat) and set to the side. Put on your gloves, then combine both types of sugar, the corn syrup, the water and the salt in the pan and bring to 292 degrees. Don't stir the sugar while it comes to temp - this creates a domino-effect of crystallization and your entire pan of sugar will seize before your eyes. Add the nuts and cinnamon and stir occasionally (now it's okay) to prevent the nuts from sticking to the surface of the pan and burning.
Some cooks toast the nuts first, some don't, saying the sugar does the job for them. I've done it both ways and it's worked fine. Keep in mind that the sugar will definitely cook the nuts further, so roast them lightly. Nuts are expensive, and your mixed-nut-pistachio-cashew-almond brittle sounds like a great idea until you get to the checkout and you're asked to fork over around twenty bucks for three sacks of nuts. Both cashews and peanuts come in cans of pieces and are cheap. Speaking of mixed nut brittle, don't use pecans, walnuts or macadamias (and presumably brazil nuts are out as well), as they're too soft and won't take kindly to their sugar bath. Salted or unsalted is a matter of taste. I like sweet and salty together myself. If you choose salted, don't get smart and omit the salt in the recipe; it's there for its chemical properties, not for flavor. It's okay to increase the salt by a pinch or two if you don't have salted nuts and you want that flavor contrast.
Cook the whole mess to caramel, which begins at about 330. (The caramel you're familiar with in ice cream and chocolates is caramelized sugar with milk or cream added to get the creamy color and consistency. True caramel is the stuff you see pooled around your flan or creme brulee, and is just cooked-down sugar.) You'll watch the sugar slowly start to caramelize and turn brown, starting at one edge of the pan and spreading quickly through the sugar. You have a little leeway here. I've had the best results with light to medium brown, around 345. Sugar continues to cook after you take it off the heat, so cooking it to dark brown is flirting with disaster.
Take it off the heat and quickly stir in the vanilla and butter, then the baking soda. The baking soda will make it bubble up and create a honeycomb-like texture in the finished product, which is exactly what you want. (This way grandma won't break her dentures.) Pour it quickly out onto the silpat or wax paper, manipulating the paper if necessary to prevent it from flowing over the edges. It will pool and begin setting quickly and you'll (hopefully) have finished brittle in that lovely yellow-brown color. Once it cools it's ready to eat. This makes a fairly sizeable batch, enough to take to a party or send off with some left over for the house.
BROWN SUGAR BRITTLE
Courtesy of Chef Ex-Hippie. She spent several years right after graduating from culinary school working for a local well-respected candy maker, under Chef Hip Older Dude from England (the one who knew who R. Crumb was). I think this is originally his formula. Called "grandma candy" by my class, along with things like fudge, divinity and pfeffermintztaler (fondant drops with mint, or what Junior Mints are made of):
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups nuts (a word about your nuts below)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Wax paper (or a silpat)
Sheet pan
Largest saucepan you've got
Wooden or nylon spoon (nylon's less porous and won't chip or splinter)
Latex gloves (they're in the nightstand next to the bed)
Candy thermometer
A word or six about sugar. I poked around for ways to circumvent the need for a candy thermometer, but I haven't found one yet. Sugar is such a pain to work with that there's no real way to get around specific temperatures, and while extremely experienced chefs can sometimes call it by eye, neither you nor I fit into that category. (My instructors at school always use thermometers in class.) It'll run you twenty to thirty dollars and up, so your initial batch of nut brittle turns into a significant investment, but it's worth adding a useful tool to your kitchen toolbox. You need one specifically for candy since a common kitchen thermometer only runs to about 200 degrees or so; sugar has a series of stages that goes up to nearly 400 degrees ("blackjack", or hopelessly scorched sugar, which will stink up your kitchen for days). Consider the silpat and nylon spoon while you're at the gadget store, but neither of them are necessary.
Before I get someone burnt ... sugar burns are painful, and mark the wary professional as well as the eager novice. Wear long sleeves if possible (making sure your cuffs won't catch on the pan). Wear those gloves. Go to the bathroom and call your mom now, since sugar jumps in temperature with no warning and once you're on the path, you can't turn back or put it on hold. Stay aware of what you're doing at all times and have a bowl of ice water nearby for burns. If some does get on you, don't touch it with bare skin or smear it; plunge the area in cold water or run it under the faucet and it'll fall off. And for God's sake, DON'T bend forward and put your face near the pot to see how it's doing. Geez! If your sugar does burn, be cool, dump it all out on the wax paper, wait til it cools completely, throw it away, turn on the rangetop fan, and start over. Never dump pure sugar down your drain unless you enjoy your plumber's company. And when it's time to clean your pan and spoon, fill the pan with water and bring it to a boil with the spoon in. Dump the sugar water down the drain (if diluted, it won't clog your pipes) and repeat until all the little smears of sugar are off. Sugar is scary only if you're being a doofus and not paying attention to what you're doing.
Make sure your pan is scrupulously clean. Spread several layers of wax paper on a sheet pan (or lay out your silpat) and set to the side. Put on your gloves, then combine both types of sugar, the corn syrup, the water and the salt in the pan and bring to 292 degrees. Don't stir the sugar while it comes to temp - this creates a domino-effect of crystallization and your entire pan of sugar will seize before your eyes. Add the nuts and cinnamon and stir occasionally (now it's okay) to prevent the nuts from sticking to the surface of the pan and burning.
Some cooks toast the nuts first, some don't, saying the sugar does the job for them. I've done it both ways and it's worked fine. Keep in mind that the sugar will definitely cook the nuts further, so roast them lightly. Nuts are expensive, and your mixed-nut-pistachio-cashew-almond brittle sounds like a great idea until you get to the checkout and you're asked to fork over around twenty bucks for three sacks of nuts. Both cashews and peanuts come in cans of pieces and are cheap. Speaking of mixed nut brittle, don't use pecans, walnuts or macadamias (and presumably brazil nuts are out as well), as they're too soft and won't take kindly to their sugar bath. Salted or unsalted is a matter of taste. I like sweet and salty together myself. If you choose salted, don't get smart and omit the salt in the recipe; it's there for its chemical properties, not for flavor. It's okay to increase the salt by a pinch or two if you don't have salted nuts and you want that flavor contrast.
Cook the whole mess to caramel, which begins at about 330. (The caramel you're familiar with in ice cream and chocolates is caramelized sugar with milk or cream added to get the creamy color and consistency. True caramel is the stuff you see pooled around your flan or creme brulee, and is just cooked-down sugar.) You'll watch the sugar slowly start to caramelize and turn brown, starting at one edge of the pan and spreading quickly through the sugar. You have a little leeway here. I've had the best results with light to medium brown, around 345. Sugar continues to cook after you take it off the heat, so cooking it to dark brown is flirting with disaster.
Take it off the heat and quickly stir in the vanilla and butter, then the baking soda. The baking soda will make it bubble up and create a honeycomb-like texture in the finished product, which is exactly what you want. (This way grandma won't break her dentures.) Pour it quickly out onto the silpat or wax paper, manipulating the paper if necessary to prevent it from flowing over the edges. It will pool and begin setting quickly and you'll (hopefully) have finished brittle in that lovely yellow-brown color. Once it cools it's ready to eat. This makes a fairly sizeable batch, enough to take to a party or send off with some left over for the house.