CPM: Chocolate, Peanuts & Marshmallow (GF)

*Before we get started, apologies for the atrocious pictures in this post, I was feeling a bit lazy. Soz!*

I was watching Food Network the other day, not like me I know, when this popped up.  It was one of those snippets of a Food Network chef talking about 'The best thing I ever tasted...'.  You know the ones I mean.  The theme for this particular one was sugar and Chef Duff from Charm City Cakes was in the hot seat. 

I wasn't paying too much attention to him as I was also scribbling something or other onto a piece of paper at the same time.  I very rarely just do one thing at a time, I always have one eye here and t'other there.  It's just the way I like to roll.  Even when I look like I am only concentrating on the task at hand my brain is generally 2 hours ahead thinking of the next thing I intend to do.  Anyhoo, I digress.  My attention turned solely to the tv when the chef who had created Duff's favourite dessert started to describe it.

First you pop 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream into the bottom of a glass, then you scatter on some sweetened peanuts, follow that up with a layer of chocolate ganache and then top the lot with some warm marshmallow fluff.  Naturally at that stage I found myself on my knees licking the tv screen. (Note to self, dust the tv.) 

I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of recreating this sweet confection and kept dreaming about it for the 24 hours that followed, so last night I gave in and made it before dinner.  I know, I shouldn't have but I was alone in the house and it was a good hour and a half before dinner so I did it.  This is one of my favourite things about being an adult, you can decide what to eat and when and if you want to eat dessert before dinner, you can go right ahead and do it!

As this was not part of an actual cookery show there was no recipe to accompany it.  The following is a rough guide:

CPM: Chocolate, Peanuts & Marshmallow
(the following quantities are for one serving but can very easily be multiplied)

*** NB Check that the brand of marshmallows you use are gluten free if making for someone with coeliac disease***

2tbsp Salted Peanuts
A squeeze of Honey
A handful of white Mini Marshmallows
4tbsp of Milk
3 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream
3-4tbsp of Chocolate Sauce

1.  An hour in advance of assembly place the peanuts into a small bowl.  Squeeze over just enough honey to coat them all evenly.  Cover and set aside until required.
2.  Place the mini marshmallows and milk into a small saucepan and set over a low heat to melt.

3.  While you are waiting for the marshmallows to melt remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften slightly.
4.  Once the marshmallows have melted remove them from the heat. 

5.  Place the 3 scoops of ice cream into the glass.  Flatten down with the back of a spoon.  Spoon the peanuts on top of the ice cream.  Cover the peanuts with the chocolate sauce.  Finally, cover the chocolate sauce with the melted marshmallow. 

6.  Grab a BIG spoon.  Lock yourself in a room on your own and dig in.  It is very important to get a bit of each layer in every spoonful.  Trust me, you will be glad you did.  Enjoy!

Notes:

• I had no vanilla ice cream in the house so used a homemade honeycomb one I had been meaning to taste.  It worked perfectly and I will post the recipe for that soon.
• Marshmallow fluff is not something that is readily available here.  I know Avoca sell a jar of pink marshmallow fluff but I think the melted marshmallow I used worked perfectly well.  Actually, I know it worked perfectly well because it was feckin delicious.
• I used a shop bought chocolate sauce but feel free to make your own ganache if you wish.  If I was serving it as a dessert I would most probably opt for a homemade version.

Peanut Brittle (GF)

I was leafing through some of my recipe books yesterday praying for inspiration for something to bake today when this little lovely caught my attention.  Now it is not exactly baking before you start getting all technical on me, possibly confectionery making, but I knew immediately that it was something I wanted to make.

I haven't had this in years but my mam and sister and I used to happily munch our way through a bag of this when my mam would pick it up in the shop.  My mam would nearly always have a bag of something or other in her handbag.  Nougat was a firm favourite of hers and she would stock up on the little clear bags of it in M&S, very handy for spying the biggest piece and then fishing it out, shoving it in your gob whole and getting an unmerciful pain in your jaw from trying to break it down.  Other times it would be a slab of toffee with ginormous Brazil nuts scattered over the top, again the aul jaw got a serious workout with this bad boy.

Probably my favourite though was the lovely brown heavy paper bag that held the amber loveliness of peanut brittle.  I'm not sure exactly why I liked this so much.  It might have been the feeling of the shards being crushed between my teeth, the lovely peanut flavour being released or the contrast of the little salty bits of nut against the sugary toffee brittle.  Whatever it was one thing I am sure of is that my hand would return to the bag many times until the heart sinking moment when all that brushed against my little fingers was paper, no more sugary goodness.  We three had eaten it all.

I have never made this before or indeed tasted any homemade version but was really excited to try it out and I was not disappointed.  It is lovely and crumbly, so no need to fear for your gnashers, and it has a lovely creamy toffee flavour.  Totally yum and needs to be locked away or there will be none left for anyone else.

Peanut Brittle

225g/8oz Butter (diced)
225g/8oz Caster Sugar
50ml Water
1/2tsp Salt
150g Salted Peanuts or
100g Salted Peanuts & 50g Cocolate Covered Peanuts

1.  Place the butter, sugar, salt and water into a heavy based saucepan.
2.  Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
3.  Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer, unstirred, for 20-25* mins until a sugar thermometer dipped* in reads 150°C/302°F.  (the exact temperature is very important, not hot enough and it will not set, too hot and it will taste burnt)
4.  While waiting for the mixture to reach the correct temp, line a baking sheet with some grease proof paper and then scatter the peanuts on the tray in a nice even layer. (the peanut brittle I remember just had regular peanuts throughout but I decided to add in some chocolate covered ones to add an extra dimension.  Add in nuts to suit your personal preference eg. cashews, brazil nuts or alternatively enjoy the brittle plain)
***VERY IMPORTANT.  BE CAREFUL AT THIS STAGE AS YOU ARE WORKING WITH AN EXTREMELY HOT MIXTURE***
5.  Once the mixture has readched the desired temperature remove from the heat and carefully pour onto the prepared baking sheet.
6.  Allow to set for 10 mins and then transfer to the fridge to cool and complete the setting process.
7.  Break into pieces and enjoy. (banging the baking sheet on the work surface a few times should do it)

***Notes***
I have to admit that it took me 2 attempts to make this.  The first time I was a little preoccupied with the anticipation of what I was making and ignored the submersion line on the sugar thermometer meaning by the time I realised my mistake the mixture had passed 150°C without me noticing and turned into a lumpy mess, yuck.  I combatted this problem by making the second batch in a smaller saucepan (use the smallest you have that will accomodate the ingredients) to ensure the thermometer was submerged adequately at all times.

Secondly, I found the timings in the recipe a little off for my hob and it took me approx 35 mins, I have included the original timings in the recipe above but please be aware that all appliances vary so just check the temperature every few minutes and adjust the time accordingly.