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)
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.
