Spicy buttercrunch brittle with roasted nuts

The lead-up to Christmas is always the best time to make confectionery and sweet treats that can be packaged and given as gifts. With this recipe for spicy buttercrunch brittle with roasted nuts, I’ve taken my buttercrunch brittle with salted peanut recipe from my book Sweet and added the spice from my spicy caramel corn to give it that festive vibe. It was delicious.

I used a mix of almonds, cashews, hazel and brazil nuts to make this spicy buttercrunch brittle with roasted nuts a little more special but any nut of your choice will do. 

A good nut brittle is delicious but I’m not keen on cracking my teeth while eating it. The butter and baking soda in this recipe softens the candy to a manageable level of crunch. The high nut ratio also keeps things in check.

When making any kind of sugar confection I always use a digital thermometer. There is exact science at play here and I like to be precise. When sugar is heated it goes through various stages of physical change. It will either set at a soft ball, hard ball all crack stage.

You need to cook the caramel to the desired level to get the desired result. Here I take it to 147C or 296F. This takes a while, but I advise you to not leave the stove and keep a watchful eye. 

Ensure that all your ingredients are measured out and ready when you start. Things move very quickly to the final stage. The toffee hardens very quickly so you need to get it onto the lined tray asap and spread it out as thin as possible.

This was easier to do with smaller nuts, and mine set a little too thick here. This just means I needed to smash it into smaller shards. 

I recently procured a meat mallet for the first time in my life and every time I use it I wonder why it took me so long. I somehow managed to use a variety of other implements over the years including the bottom of my potato ricer, but the mallet is a much more effective tool. 

I packaged these shards up into cellophane with a pretty ribbon to give away as gifts. 

A few of my other favourite sweet recipes:

Matcha Marshmallows

Toffee, salted pretzel, and chocolate bark

Spicy caramel popcorn

White chocolate & green tea fudge

Homemade peanut butter cups

Spicy buttercrunch brittle with roasted nuts

A delicious and spicy buttercrunch brittle recipe with roasted nuts.

Print Recipe

Prep Time:5 minutes mins

Cook Time:15 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 60 ml / 1/4 cup water
• 200 gm / 7 ounces granulated white sugar
• 125 ml / 1/2 a cup of corn syrup or liquid glucose
• 110 gm /  1 stick butter
• 200 gm / 7 ounces mixed roasted nuts
• 5 ml / 1 tsp ground cumin
• 5 ml / 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 ml  1/2 tsp paprika
• 5 ml / 1 tsp salt
• 5 ml / 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 ml / 1 tsp baking soda

Instructions

• Line a baking tray with baking paper
• Combine the water, sugar and corn syrup or liquid glucose in a medium-size, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and then bring to a bubbling boil. At this point, stir in the butter and leave to cook until the resulting caramel reaches 147 °C (296 F) on a sugar thermometer.
• Remove from the heat, then add the vanilla extract, spices and bicarbonate of soda and stir quickly to coat. Immediately add the nuts and give it another super quick stir and then tip out onto the prepared baking tray. Spread it as evenly as possible.
• Leave the brittle to cool and harden completely before breaking into shards and storing in an airtight container. If you leave it out it will attract moisture and start to soften.

Servings: 1 tray

Author: Sam Linsell

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