Peanut brittle

Brittle is a type of sweet consisting of flat broken pieces of hard sugar candy with nuts mixed into it, such as pecans, almonds, or peanuts.[1] It is usually less than 1 centimeter thick. It has many variations around the world, such as pasteli in Greece, sohan in Iran,[2] croquant in France,[3] alegría or palanqueta in Mexico,[4] gozinaki in Georgia, gachak or gajak in Indian Punjab, chikki in other parts of India, kotkoti in Bangladesh, sohan halwa in Pakistan,[5][source?] huasheng tang (花生糖) in China, thua tat (ถั่วตัด) in Thailand and kẹo lạc in Vietnam. In parts of the Middle East, brittle is made with pistachios.[6] Many Asian countries use sesame seeds and peanuts.[7] Peanut brittle is the most popular brittle recipe in the United States. The term "brittle", was first printed in 1892 meaning food, though the candy itself has been around for much longer.[8]

Brittle
Golden peanut brittle cracked on a serving dish.jpg
Golden peanut brittle cracked on a serving dish
Details
TypeConfectionery
Main ingredient(s)Sugar, nuts, water, butter

Usually, a mixture of sugar and water is heated to approximately 300 °F (149 °C), though some recipes also use ingredients like glucose and salt in the first step.[9] Nuts are mixed with the sugar, which is caramelized. At this point, spices, leavening agents, and often peanut butter or butter are added to the mixture. The hot candy is poured out onto a flat surface for cooling, traditionally a granite or marble slab, or a baking sheet. The hot candy can be smoothed to an equal thickness. When the brittle is cool enough to touch, it is broken into pieces or chunks.[10]

Different versions

Nougatine is a similar confection to brittle, but it is made of sliced almonds instead of whole peanuts, which are mixed into clear caramel.[11]

Related pages

 

References

  1. Kate Hopkins (2012). Sweet Tooth: The Bittersweet History of Candy. Macmillan. p. 34. ISBN 9781250011190. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  2. Dinah Corley (2011). Gourmet Gifts: 100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion to Make Yourself & Wrap with Style. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 251. ISBN 978-1558324350.
  3. Lisa Abend (2011). The Sorcerer's Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrià's elBulli. Simon and Schuster. p. 82.
  4. "El origen de la palabra Palanqueta y La Fiesta del Maíz". December 21, 2015.
  5. "Peanut or Cheena Badam is popular outdoor leisure snack food in Bangladesh". January 11, 2011.
  6. Joel Denker (2007). The World on a Plate: A Tour Through the History of America's Ethnic Cuisine. University of Nebraska Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0803260146. Retrieved April 11, 2013. brittle pistachios middle east.
  7. Leela Punyaratabandhu (April 12, 2011). Goddesses and peanut brittle: This year, celebrate Songkran in supernatural style. CNN. http://travel.cnn.com/bangkok/play/goddesses-and-peanut-brittle-year-celebrate-songkran-supernatural-style-514411. Retrieved April 11, 2013. 
  8. Olver, Lynne. "Brittle". The Food Timeline.
  9. "Peanut Brittle Recipe *Video Recipe*". Joyofbaking.com.
  10. Paula Deen (2011). Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible: The New Classic Guide to Delicious Dishes with More Than 300 Recipes. Simon & Schuster. p. 418. ISBN 9781416564126. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  11. Gisslen, Wayne (2017). Professional baking (Seventh ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 656. ISBN 978-1-119-14844-9. OCLC 944179855.

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