Peanut brittle
I have one big regret in life. It goes so far back that I am not even sure there is much I could have done differently. You see, I was born about an hour and a half too early. I was born over quarter of a century ago on a very rainy, stormy night in the middle of the monsoons. My parents tell me that my grandfather was so stressed out that he spent the entire time my mother was in labour sitting atop a children’s slide in a nearby park getting soaked to the skin. And while I am sure he was really glad that I was born when I was, I have wished since I was twelve years old that instead of July 30, my birthday was on July 31. I mean, how cool would it be to share my birthday with Harry Potter. Sadly, that is not to be. I have since tried to console myself with the fact that Neville Longbottom, with whom I do share my birthday, turns out to be quite something by the end of the book series, but still.
This year, I thought it would be fun to celebrate birthday week here at Enzo the Baker. Both my birthday and Harry’s. So that is what we are doing. From today through Friday, we’ll be sharing five recipes straight from the Harry Potter universe on the blog.
We start the week with something slightly obscure. Treacle tart—yes, there will be treacle tart—can wait. Now, if you have read your Potter books well, you would know that on Christmas in Harry’s third year, Mrs. Weasly sends Harry a box of nut brittle along with her trademark handknit jumper. That nut brittle is what we’re kicking things off with. Ours is a peanut one, which we ate over scoops of rich salted dulce-de-leche and bourbon ice-cream.
Peanut brittle
From Nigella’s Community Recipes
100gms salted peanuts
100gms caster sugar
1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set it aside.
2. Put the sugar in a saucepan and put it on low heat on the stove.
3. When the sugar starts to melt, shake the pan a little. Do not use a spatula or spoon. First, the sugar will clump together, then turn silvery, followed by caramel and finally a deep mahogany. It took us at least 15–20 minutes before that happened. Be patient and keep a watch on the sugar.
4. Once the sugar turns dark, add the peanuts. Shake the saucepan to mix them in the caramel.
5. Pour the caramel and peanuts into the prepared baking tray and leave it undisturbed for at least half an hour or until the brittle sets. Be careful of not touching the melted sugar when it is hot.
6. Once set, break into shards and store in an air-tight containers.
