Peanut Brittle Squares

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Brittle is a type of confection, consisting of flat broken pieces of hard sugar candy embedded with nuts such as pecans, almonds, or peanuts.

A mixture of sugar and water is heated to the hard crack stage corresponding to a temperature of around 300 °F (approx. 150 °C). Nuts are mixed with the caramelized sugar. At this point spices, leavening agents, and often peanut butter or butter are added. The hot candy is poured out onto a flat surface for cooling, traditionally a granite or marble slab. The hot candy may be troweled to uniform thickness. When the brittle cools, it is broken into pieces.

Peanut brittle is a specialty of Baguio. It is sold not only on the streets and specialty shops in Baguio but also in big department stores all over the country. 

I first encountered Peanut brittle squares when I was in elementary. It was a sweet pick that I insist my mom buys me everytime she goes to the market.

Ingredients:

1 cup of shelled roasted peanuts 

1/2 cup of sugar 

3/4 cup of milk 

1/4 cup of sugar for the pastry board Equipment needed:

Equipments needed:


meat grinder
saucepan
spatula
rolling pin
knife or cookie cutter
cooking spoon


Procedure:

1. Put the peanuts through a meat grinder with a medium blade and start grinding. 


2. Place nuts in a saucepan with the 1/2 cup of sugar and the milk. Mix well. 

3. Place the peanut mixture over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture boils and the sugar dissolves. 

4. Lower the flame and continue stirring until the mixture thickens. Do this for about 15 minutes until mixture gets very thick.

5. When the mixture is so thick that you can see the bottom of the pan when you stir, remove from heat.

6. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of sugar on the pastry board. Turn the peanut mixture out onto the sugar and flatten it out with a spatula. 

7. Allow it to cool so you can handle it. 

8. Next roll it out with a rolling pin until the mixture is about 1/4 inch thick. 


9. With a knife, cut the mixture into small squares or with a cookie cutter. 

10. Remove the cookies from the pastry board with a spatula.


Tip: You can wrap each peanut brittle square separately with Japanese paper for best presentation. Store in an air tight sealed jar. 


A video on how to make peanut brittle using microwave.

Ways of Enjoying your Ice Cream this Lent

Banana split with vanilla, lemon, joghurt ice cream. Photo by SDeluz

The sun is finally shining! From 5 deg C to staggering 25 deg C. Not  bad. What is traumatizing is the pollen ridden air. No rain the whole month which is so unlike the April weather we have here in Bonn. Now, eating out is troublesome due to mottled faces, itchy eyes and blocked nose. A small problem easily solved by taking cetrizin (anti-histamine medication) early in the morning. So now I can breathe while enjoying my ice cream even though my face is doubling up due to hay fever. A cheaper way of doing this is stacking up on different flavors of ice cream. wafer sticks, marshmallow, banana, colored candies and nuts.Then you can do your own sundae, banana split or decorated scooped ice cream right in the comfort of your own patio.

Banana Split

Making your own banana split is easy as 1-2-3. Just pick a platter where the length of a banana will fit in. With this, of course you will need at least 3 different flavored ice cream, banana, choco syrup, nuts, marshmallow. Cut the banana lengthwise. Place them on each side and position the three scoops of different flavored ice cream in the middle. Drop in some nuts. Marshmallow is delish also if preferred. Then lavish on choco syrup. Stick in a wafer if desired. Vavoom! Your very own banana split.

4 scoops of different flavored ice cream: blue, vanilla, cookies and chocolate. Photo by SDeluz

Some kids like making an ice cream soup though. They maybe messy and disgusting for people our age, but hey, they are kids! Kids like experimenting. Messy foods are part of their job. They prefer scoops of different flavored ice cream in a bowl. Eat some spoonful of it then just mash everything until its a browny mushy goo which they slurp with gusto. Credit them for being not picky.

Dolphin Ice Cream using blue ice cream, wafers and smarties. Photo by SDeluz

Some kids prefer a much colorful ice cream than others. A good way to entice them is presentation. But hey, its ice cream! Who needs enticing? If you have a fun plate to use like a dolphin shaped one as shown above, scoop up their fave flavor, add some rounded wafers and smarties and you have yourself a dolphin ice cream.

Nutty ice cream using vanilla and walnut flavored ice cream. Photo by SDeluz

   For nut lovers or just plain nutty, use a nut flavored ice cream, nutty chocolate (in this case a Giotto) and drizzle with chocolate syrup and more bits of nuts.