prep
5 minutes
cook
10 minutes
difficulty
Mid
preparation
5
minutes
cooking
10
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
- 375 g (2½ cups) salted peanuts
- 275 g (1¼ cups) caster sugar
- 310 ml (1¼ cups) corn syrup (see Note)
Setting time: 1 hour
Makes 25 cm x 25 cm slab
Instructions
Place peanuts, sugar, corn syrup and 60 ml water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes or until syrup starts to brown and reaches 150ºC on a sugar thermometer.
Quickly pour mixture onto an oven tray lined with baking paper and set aside for 1 hour or until set. Roughly break into pieces and store for up to 3 weeks.
Note
• Corn syrup is from health food shops, selected greengrocers, delis and Asian food shops.
Variations
Honeycomb peanut brittle
Follow peanut brittle recipe, adding 20 g chopped unsalted butter and 3 teaspoons of sifted bicarbonate of soda to the cooked sugar syrup at the end of Step 1, stirring to combine. Continue recipe from Step 2.
Saffron pine nut brittle
Combine ½ teaspoon of saffron threads and 1 tablespoon of boiling water in a small bowl and soak for 10 minutes. Press saffron threads with a fork to extract as much flavour as possible. Place saffron and soaking liquid, 150 g pine nuts, 275 g caster sugar, 310 ml corn syrup and 2 tablespoons of water in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes or until syrup starts to brown and reaches 150ºC on a sugar thermometer. Continue peanut brittle recipe on page 48 from Step 2.
Photography by Dieu Tan
As seen in Feast Magazine, Issue 17, pg48.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.