Butterscotch Brittle Recipe

                              salted butterscotch brittle

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Have you tried your hand at making your own confectionary? It would have been my Mum's birthday today, and as Mum loved all forms of caramels including hard butterscotch lollies I thought we could look at making candies/lollies starting with cooking sugar to the 'hard crack' stage. 

'Hard crack' lollies include; candy canes, lollipops, brittles, praline, lollies categorised as "boiled lollies" like fruit/acid/sour drops and hard caramels. 'Hard crack' is reached at 150C (300F), we are taking it a little further today to produce caramel.

Glucose syrup is another form of sugar and like fructose often added to granulated sugar when making candy. The glucose syrup helps prevent the sugar crystallising. In Australia you can buy glucose syrup in any supermarket, you might have to seek it out in other parts of the world.

Butterscotch Brittle

Buttery and carmelly (ok, that's not a word... but it should be!) with a touch of sea salt, today's hard lollies are meant to be sucked, add peanuts, pecans or macadamia for nut brittle. Whether packaged in cello bags complete with a small hammer to crack off pieces, or neatly moulded; butterscotch brittle makes for a lovely homemade gift. 

lightly oil a 18cm x 28cm tin (7in by 11in sheet pan)

Ingredients

2 cups white sugar (granulated white) 

1/3 cup water

*2/3 cup glucose syrup

2 tsp of pure vanilla extract/essence

125g butter, cubed (4oz)

pinch or two of salt

flaked sea salt if desired for topping

Method

In a medium saucepan combine, sugar, water and glucose syrup. Stir together over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Bring to boil, wash down any sugar crystals around the edge of sugar mixture with a damp pastry brush.

a damp pastry brush is used to wash down any sugar crystals

Reduce heat to low, (mixture should still be boiling) and boil without stirring for 7 to 10 minutes or until it reaches 170C (338F) on a candy thermometer. The mixture should be an amber colour.

a inexpensive candy thermometer is the easiest way to ensure accurate setting points. 

Remove saucepan from heat and with a wooden spoon stir in butter, vanilla and two pinches of salt (if your using salt on top reduce pinch of salt to one pinch).

Pour into oiled pan, make sure you do this in one pour... if you scrape the pan onto what you have poured it will leave marks/discoloration on the finished candy.

 Whilst the mixture is still fairly hot, score lines and sprinkle with sea salt. Scoring the lines allows for fairly neat breaks in the finished candy, however to get "perfect" pieces you have to score very deeply or use a candy mould with shapes of choice.

Allow to totally cool. Pop out of tin and package as desired. 

*glucose syrup is thick and very sticky, oil the measuring cup for ease of pouring.

* stir in 1 to 2 cups of dry roasted peanuts when adding the butter for butterscotch peanut brittle. 

Happy Baking :)

you might also be interested in liquid syrups 

you might also be interested in honey comb/sponge candy

Caramel Cashew White Chocolate Cookies

caramel cashew white chocolate cookies

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Mini cookies with a big caramel flavour today :) 

I love the Christmas season; minimalists decide there is no such thing as too much tinsel, elegant women don flashing ruldolph pins (there might be Christmas cocktails involved in this), ditto with baking where your famous 85% chocolate fondant will be replaced with more than one can of sweetened condensed milk in some Christmassy treat.

For me, I don't usually shop the commerical lollies isle... but at Christmas if it can be crushed, melted or thrown in whole it's included. 

Today I utilised hard butter candies (Werther's Original) for their unmistakable caramel flavour and Nestle caramel bits, which are new to the Australian market. Oh, plus white chocolate and cashews "just because". 

Nestle caramel bits and Werther's Original butter candies

Caramel Cashew White Chocolate Mini Cookies 

makes 4 to 5 dozen, plenty to pack up for Christmas gift giving

Ingredients

1 cup of Nestle caramel bits (caramel choc chips)

1 cup white eating chocolate chopped into small chunks

2 Werther's Original 50gram (1.75oz) rolls of butter candy  *ground to a fine powder

1 cup dry roasted unsalted cashew nuts, roughly chopped

2 cups plain flour (all purpose)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

250g well-softened unsalted butter (1 cup)

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract or essence

2 tbsp water

1 egg

*I thought it would nice to include "bits" of candy, but as you can see from batch one... the candy melted/popped. Batch two; I ground the candies to a powder in the food processor to get the result I wanted. 

 Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (360F).

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl.·

In a mixer, cream the butter and the three types of sugar. Add the vanilla extract, water and egg. Beat together until just incorporated.

Beat in the flour mixture until just combined.

Stir in the crushed/powdered candies, chocolate chunks, caramel bits, cashews. Drop small teaspoons of the mixture, well spaced, on to non-stick baking parchment.

 

Three types of sugar used, dark brown, light brown and granulated white, you can replace dark with light if you can't find any at your local store.

Bake for 6-8 minutes until golden around the edges. Cool on tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Happy Baking :) 

You might also be interested in brown sugar and making your own 

A Zumbo Macaron

clockwise front: raspberry caramel, lime and mint mojito, cola, lemon verbena, caramelised pumpkin seeds and milk chocolate, chilli and cinnamon.

On a recent trip to Sydney my step son Daniel and his beautiful girlfriend Trish went macaron shopping at pastry chef extraordinaire Adriano Zumbo's Balmain store. Daniel returned to Melbourne laden with pastries and boxes of macarons. 

Daniel and Trish

Goodness all the macarons were incredibly good and the perfect example of what a macaron should be. With super thin crisp shells yielding to soft and chewy interiors and "oh, the fillings" well, lets have a look at the flavours.... 

Raspberry Caramel; this reminded me of something from childhood, perhaps the caramelised jam at the bottom of jam pudding?  I, who doesn't like caramel usually loved this one. There is the traditional "burnt sugar" taste to these and the punch of raspberry from the not overly sweet jam like filling.

Lime and Mint Mojito; Daniel and Trish's favourite flavour... and my husband was quiet taken with these too. The strongest colour and flavour of all macaron's we tasted, a clear burst of lime followed by a fresh mint flavour. Bit "sparkly" and pretty these ones :)

Cola; Yes, it tasted like "cola". Nice colours, we all liked it with Daniel commenting he would have liked the cola flavour to be more pronounced. 

Lemon Verbena; Who would have thought?? After 18 years of marriage my husband and I finally agreed on something!! We both voted the unassuming, pale leafy green macaron our "favourite". Beautifully balanced flavour and it is was refreshing and creamy at the same time.

Caramelised Pumpkin Seeds; Voted "ok" by all of us. They weren't awful, but they weren't a "stand out" like some of the other flavours. 

Milk Chocolate Chilli and Cinnamon; These were "yum", just the right amount of heat in these babies, contrasting with the creaminess of the milk chocolate filling. If I was only to buy one flavour to serve at a party/dinner these would it. Fun and delicious.  

We also tried a few individual tarts, including 'Grandma's soap' a lavender concoction comprising of blueberry compote, fresh blueberries, lavender chantilly & almond cème. The classic passionfruit curd and and pâte sucrée and the fab 'Whizz Fizz'...

Inside the Whizz Fizz tart with it's raspberry meringue, sherbet, raspberry compote, liquorice crème. This was "Wow!!". The pastry in all the tarts is so good and unlike any pâte sucrée I've tasted before, my goal for 2012 is to emulate, that taste, texture and flavour.

Well, it's a big week for Adriano Zumbo with his new store opening at Star Casino. If your in Sydney you must go check it out. 

Oh, don't forget it's Zumbo's MACARON day this Sunday... go with an empty belly and fill up on the plethora of fabulous flavours. Get all your updates for the day straight from Zumbo's website, browse the patisserie menu whilst there.  Zumbo 

Happy Baking :) 

I'll looking at the Zumbo cookbook in up coming weeks but for now you might be interested in; Daniel's review of Lindt's Chocolate Cafe  

or a review of the Laurent Patisserie 

Love Caramel Cupcake

                           love caramel apple spice cupcake

Missing my Mum who passed away seven years ago this weekend :( 

Mum loved everything "caramel", one of my first food memories is being allowed to have a piece of Cadbury Caramello chocolate. 

Stroopwafels the Dutch waffle treats are available in most Australian supermarkets. The thin waffle batter is filled with caramel. They can be quiet firm in texture and Mum like to put them over her cup of steaming coffee to soften the caramel to it's full gooey sticky potential. 

To make stroopwafel cupcake picks use a small cookie/aspic cutter and cut desired shapes. If it's cold weather (or your stroopwafels are past their prime... but hope it's not that!) it might be necessary to soften each waffle in the microwave on low for a few seconds.

Thread your shapes onto a toothpick. Pop them into your frosted cupcake.

Pull out of your cake for a bonus treat or if no one is looking try dipping them in your coffee :)

Apple Spice Cupcakes

makes 12 cupcakes

Preheat oven to 180C (350F)

12 hole cupcake pan lined with paper liners

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp mixed spice (pie spice)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 eggs. room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

1/2 cup tart apple peeled, cored and cut into small dice

3/4 cup milk

Method

Place flour, baking powder and spices in a small bowl, stir with a fork. 

In a large bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attached, beat together butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs one at time, beating until incorporated after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Alternatively *beat in fllour and milk, starting and ending with flour. Stir through apple.

Divide the batter into the 12 holes of prepared pan. 

Bake 25 to 29 minutes or until light golden brown and the cupackes spring back when gently touched. 

Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before removing cakes to cooling rack to cool. Frost once cooled.

*when beating in the flour, beat until just incorporated... over beating at this stage develops the gluten leading to a tough cupcake.

Martha Stewarts Caramel Buttercream

Halloween 2004, October Holiday 2004 

makes 5 cups

Optional: I added a four drops of a combination caramel flavour/colouring to recreate the caramel taste and colour my Mum liked.this confectionery flavour/colour from Roberts Confectionary Australia

I could not think of a better buttercream caramel frosting than Martha Stewarts Caramel Buttercream.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 6 large egg whites
• Pinch of salt
• 450 grams (1 pound-4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• caramel flavour/colour (optional)

Method

1. Make caramel: Pour 1/4 cup water into a medium heavy-bottom saucepan. Add 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and syrup is clear. Continue to cook, without stirring, until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush two or three times to prevent crystals from forming. Let syrup boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until syrup is dark amber.

2. Immediately remove from heat; carefully pour in cream (caramel will bubble vigorously). Stir caramel until smooth. Transfer to a bowl; let cool.

3. Whisk together remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the egg whites, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water; whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture registers 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

4. Return bowl to mixer; fit mixer with whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff. Reduce speed to medium low; add butter, a few tablespoons at a time. Continue whisking until smooth.

5. Switch to paddle attachment. Add caramel, vanilla and caramel colour/flavour if using; beat on lowest speed until combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Frost cooled cakes; I used a large closed star tip.

   *visit the official Martha Stewart site for another fabulous caramel frosting Martha Stewart's Brown Sugar Buttercream and it is easier to make.

Remembering you Mum this weekend. 

xx

Chocolate more your thing? You might be interested in Bubble Wrap Chocolate

  or perhaps Chocolate Peppermint Twist Brownie Cupcakes

Caramel Slice

                                           caramel slices

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Simple "slices" are a popular Australian bakery item, with caramel slices being one of the most loved varieties. 

Home cooks in Australia bake these homely delicious treats in a slice tin, but any tin that you usually use for brownies will suffice. I'm using pecans in the base rather than the usual coconut because I love the combination of chocolate, caramel and pecan!

Do give them a try, they are easy to make and are sure to become a family favourite. 

Ingredients

Base

1/2 cup pecans chopped finely

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup plain flour (all purpose)

125 grams (4.4 oz) butter and cooled slightly 

Filling

2 x tins of sweetened condensed milk 375g (13 oz) 

4 tablespoons golden syrup (light treacle is probably the closest if you can't get golden syrup)

60 grams (2 oz) butter, extra

1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence/extract

Topping

185 grams (6 oz) dark chocolate

3 teaspoons of vegetable oil (use a flavourless variety) 

Preheat oven 180 cel (350F)  

Place the flour, brown sugar, melted butter and chopped nuts into a bowl and mix with a spoon until combined. Press mixture into a *slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 15-18 minutes until light golden brown.     pecans are chopped finely but still retain texture

Combine the sweetened condensed milk, extra butter and golden syrup in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture is just about the boil, reduce heat to low and continue to cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Stir through the vanilla.

Pour filling over base and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the caramel is browned around the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool. 

Once cool place the chocolate and the oil into a saucepan and melt together over low heat. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly before spreading over the top of the caramel. 

Refrigerate until firm, then cut into desired sized squares. 

*the tin I used was a Wiltshire 27 x 17 cm (approx 10 x 6 inches) but if the size of your tin differs this is a forgiving recipe. Smaller tin the layers will be thicker, larger tin the layers will be thinner... bake times are almost the same... use watching for the colour of the base and caramel as a guide.

Variations; go more "Mexican" and add one teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients in the base, prefer things a little tipsy? then try adding one tablespoon of rum or hazelnut liqueur to the caramel filling when you add the vanilla. 

Happy Baking :) 

Caramel Macadamia Shortbread Mini Cheesecakes

Caramel Macadamia Shortbread Mini Cheesecakes

Mum wasn't known for being a great cook, she loved a recipe that included commercial products; canned, jarred, bottled, lollies or biscuits. Bless her heart, most weren't great but there were a few exceptions including today's Caramel Shortbread Cheesecakes for all those caramel fans out there.

I'm using Butterfingers Macadamia Shortbreads, which can be substituted with your favourite shortbread brand with 6 macadamia nuts added when you process/crush the shortbread.

Pascall Columbines is what Mum used to make the topping, they are a chewy caramel lolly.

Mum used a quick mix refrigerated cheesecake recipe, I preferred baked so that's what I've gone with, if you prefer Mum's way go for a vanilla quick mix cheesecake.

Caramel Macadamia Shortbread Mini Cheesecakes

Caramel Topping 

Remove three caramels for decorating later and in small saucepan combine the remaining caramels with a 1/3 cup whipping cream in small saucepan; stir over low heat until smooth, simmer a minute or two to thicken. Set aside to cool.

You'll need 18 silicone liners or alternatively use cupcake/muffin tin lined with 18 paper cases.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup crushed macadamia shortbread biscuits (cookies) 
• 200g (7oz) bag of chewy caramel lollies
• 1/3 cup whipping cream 
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 450g (1 pound) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• Pinch of salt
• macadamia nuts for decoration

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180c (350 degrees). Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Mix cookies and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar in a bowl. Stir in butter. Press 1 tablespoon of mixture in bottom of each cup. Bake until set, about 7 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 140c (275 degrees). Beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, then vanilla. With mixer running, add eggs slowly, scraping down side of bowl. Add 1/2 cup sour cream and salt. Pour batter into muffin cups, filling almost to the tops.
3. Bake until sides are set but centers are wobbly, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Wrap tins tightly with plastic, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
4. Before serving spread tops of cheesecakes with caramel topping, top each with a half to one teaspoon of sour cream, chopped macadamia nuts and chopped caramel lolly.

Happy Baking :)

You might also like...

Traditional shortbread chocolates with Vienna Almonds

Oops!... I did it again.

Pink Lemonade Cupcake with my first lollipop from a more successful attempt at candy making.

Today I did what I manage to do on a semi regular basis, burn my toffee/caramel, it's called "the walking away from the saucepan technique". I wouldn't recommend it!

Melted sugar can be a leave you with a sticky mess, but even with my blackened sugar there is a quick and easy saucepan cleaning method.

Fill your toffee/caramel pot with water, bring the boil, boil for a few minutes then tip the water out.

Your pot is now ready for the dishwasher/sink. 

You might also like;

Sprung!

Caramel Pecan Popcorn

  Candied Caramel Pecan Popcorn. Buttery, sweet & salty.

Butter, sugar and salt, considered by some members of my household "the alternative" food groups ;-)

Caramel Pecan Popcorn

Ingredients
9 cups of popped corn (about half cup of popping corn kernels)
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
1 cup of brown sugar firmly packed
125g of butter chopped (4.4oz)
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Preheat oven to *180c (360F) 

Method
Combine sugar, butter, syrup & salt in a large pan. 
Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
Bring to boil uncovered for 2 minutes.
*Stir in soda.

Pour caramel mix over the popcorn & spread popcorn out in a single layer on greased oven trays.
Cook popcorn in oven for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until popcorn is crisp & brown.
Store cooled popcorn 2-3 days in an airtight container.

*Take care when adding the soda, the mixture does foam up.
  I'm using a gas oven with no fan, if your oven is fan forced reduce heat    
  accordingly.

Variations;
Drizzle tempered dark chocolate over the cooled popcorn on trays.

Omit salt from recipe, instead sprinkle a finishing salt such as Maldon sea salt flakes over of the warm popcorn on trays.

Change nuts, macadamias and peanuts work well.

Top a frosted cupcake with a single piece of candied popcorn close to serving time so the popcorn doesn't soften.