xmas week 2017 - microwave salted pecan brittle

xmas week 2017 - microwave salted pecan brittle

19 Dec 2017

Welcome to day 2 of Christmas week. Last time I had my hair cut, my hairdresser asked what I’d be bringing him for Christmas. At that point I hadn’t put any thought into my Christmas gifts but upon reflection I thought I'd make some salted pecan brittle. 

When I was in South Africa in July, I bought some pecan brittle at the airport which was so delicious I couldn't stop eating it. I set to work trying to recreate the taste and while I’m not sure I’m there yet, I’ve had fun eating my way through 2 batches. 

I used a microwave nut brittle recipe, which I found online. The recipe doesn't have many ingredients but it does contain corn syrup which is really hard to track down. I found my corn syrup online but if you can't track any down, maybe you could use glucose syrup at a pinch.

Here's the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. I use 60 gm eggs and unsalted butter and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may have reduce your oven temperature by 20°C. I have an 800W microwave oven so if your microwave is a 1000W oven, you'll need to reduce the cooking time.

Microwave Salted Pecan Brittle - Makes about 3 dozen pieces 

Ingredients 

250g pecans, lightly toasted and salted 

1 cup sugar 

½ cup light corn syrup 

15g butter 

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Salt flakes 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F. Place the pecans on a baking sheet lined with baking paper or a silicone mat and place in the oven to keep warm.

Spray a wooden spoon with olive oil spray. Mix together the sugar and corn syrup in a large microwave-safe bowl and stir until well combined; the mixture will be stiff and hard to stir. Be sure to use a large enough bowl; the sugar/corn syrup should fill it no more than ¼ to ⅓ full. 

Microwave the sugar mixture uncovered on high for 3 minutes; stir then cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the warmed pecans and butter, and stir well to combine. Keep the baking sheet handy as you'll be needing it again soon.

Return the bowl to the microwave and cook on high for 1- 2 minutes, or until the mixture turns a nice medium-brown caramel colour. Add the bicarbonate of soda and vanilla and stir quickly to combine. Be careful, as the mixture will bubble upon the addition of these ingredients. 

Working quickly, pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it as evenly as possible. Lightly sprinkle with the salt flakes. Once the brittle has set and cooled (30 to 60 minutes), break it into pieces. 

I can't tell you how moreish this pecan brittle is and it's so easy to make and best of all you can use any kind of nut. I've made brittle with both macadamias and salted peanuts and both have turned out really well. 

I'll be back again tomorrow with day 3 of Christmas week.

Bye for now,

Jillian 

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macadamia nut brittle

macadamia nut brittle

27 Jan 2014

It's the Australia Day holiday here today and I thought about bringing you something very Australian like lamingtons or pavlova. Instead I've gone a little lateral to bring you macadamia nut brittle. This was on my list of Christmas candies but I just ran out of time so here it is, better late than never.



Did you know the macadamia nut is native to Australia? Growing up in Brisbane we had a macadamia nut tree in our back yard. I don't ever remember using them in cooking but I used to love cracking the nuts open with a brick. Thankfully these days they're available at my local shops already shelled and good to go.



The recipe is based on this one I found with a few tweaks. 



Macadamia Nut Brittle
150 g coarsely chopped unroasted macadamia nuts
pinch salt
heaped ½ teaspoon bicarb soda
½ teaspoon water
½ teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ cup light corn syrup
25 g butter

Heat the oven to 180°C. Place the nuts on an oven tray and cook for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Lightly sprinkle the nuts with salt and set to one side.

Line a 7 x 11 inch tin with baking paper; spread the nuts evenly over the paper and keep warm in the oven.

In a small bowl, mix the bicarbonate of soda with the ½ teaspoon water, the ½ teaspoon vanilla and set to one side.

Mix the sugar, the ¼ cup water and the corn syrup in a large saucepan. Cook over a medium heat stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Continue cooking until the mixture turns a light golden brown. 

Immediately remove from the heat and quickly add the bicarb mixture and the butter. The mixture will foam up.Tilt the saucepan from side to side about 10 times to incorporate the butter then pour the toffee mixture over the nuts; quickly spread about 1/4 inch thick. 

Cool completely, at least 1 hour before breaking into pieces. Store in an airtight container.



The brittle was easy to make and even easier to eat. Once again I managed to polish off most of the brittle without much help at all.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends. 

See you all again next week,

Jillian

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knäck - the 5 days of candies - xmas 2013

knäck - the 5 days of candies - xmas 2013

16 Dec 2013

A few months ago I bought a digital thermometer and I’ve been dying to use it ever since. Whilst browsing the web I saw a recipe for Swedish Christmas candies, which required a sugar thermometer and it set the wheels in motion. 



For Christmas this year rather than cookies, I decided I was going to make candies. I was a little nonplussed when the December Donna Hay magazine arrived featuring; you guessed it, Christmas candies. Great minds think alike. So here begins Christmas candy week. Australia doesn’t have much of a Christmas candy tradition so most of the candies I’m featuring come from other countries. None of these recipes are of my own making so I’ll be including links to the original source. 

Let’s begin the week with Knäck, the candy that started the whole process. I think the literal translation for Knäck is crack which is kind of funny because they are so addictive, it’s not funny. So much so, that these candies never made it out of my flat. I have 2 left but I've eaten every single one myself! 

It’s easy to see why they’re so addictive though because who can pass up candies made from butter, sugar, vanilla, golden syrup and cream. 



I made the toffees in the microwave so they hardly took any time to make. In fact, toasting the almonds took far longer than making the candies.



Here’s the recipe for you. This recipe made about 18 small candies.
Swedish Knäck

⅔ cup sugar
⅔ cup golden syrup
⅔ cup cream
2 teaspoons butter
3 20 ml tablespoons chopped toasted blanched almonds

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Mix sugar, golden syrup, and cream in a large heatproof jug.

2. Microwave the mixture on full power for 6 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar. Check the temperature at 4 minutes and 6 minutes. I took the toffee out when the temperature reached between 125 and 130°C. If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, pour a little of the hot mixture into a cup of cold water. If the mixture forms a hard ball, then it is ready, otherwise cook for another minute and check again.

3. Take the jug out of the microwave and stir in the butter, vanilla and almonds. Quickly pour the toffee mixture into 2 cm diameter cupcake liners. If the mixture hardens too much, put the jug back into the microwave for 20 seconds or so to melt the mixture.

4. Allow the mixture to set completely before storing in an airtight tin. The tops are a little sticky so place a layer of baking paper between the toffees if you’re storing them in layers. They do soften a little over time.

I’ll be back tomorrow with day 2 of Christmas week so see you all again tomorrow,

Jillian

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