Yes Buttercrunch, a delicious holiday candy that's sweet and snappy (with a satisfying crisp!) Liz Gutman who wrote the Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook told Tonia's Kitchen it doesn't take very long to make and looks very festive. Liz says she recommends using a cast iron skillet and using walnuts, though you can use any kind of nut. It's in the spirit of the season, and makes for a satisfying snack!
RONI-SUE’S BEST
BUTTERCRUNCH EVER
Makes about 4 pounds, or
about 16 servings
We have to give total credit to Liz’s former employer, the amazing Rhonda Kave of
Roni-Sue’s Chocolates, for this recipe. (Thanks, Rhonda!) It’s simple, but
there’s something about the cast-iron skillet, the
zenlike focus it takes to sit and stir the mixture while watching it turn from
clear liquid and grainy sugar to a thick, bubbly, golden, toasty goo, that makes
it magical. This recipe demonstrates the closest thing to alchemy in this book,
in our opinion. This is also one of the few sweets that Jen not only enjoys but craves (which is really saying a lot).
zenlike focus it takes to sit and stir the mixture while watching it turn from
clear liquid and grainy sugar to a thick, bubbly, golden, toasty goo, that makes
it magical. This recipe demonstrates the closest thing to alchemy in this book,
in our opinion. This is also one of the few sweets that Jen not only enjoys but craves (which is really saying a lot).
Keep in mind:
The flavor of the buttercrunch center hinges on the two main ingredients,
butter and sugar, so you want the absolute best butter you can find. We like
European-style cultured butter, like Plugrá, which is available at most major
supermarkets and specialty supermarkets such as Whole Foods. This is the time
to splurge on the good stuff.
Bonus: You
don’t actually need to temper chocolate for this recipe! Straight-up melted
chocolate works just fine. Just keep in mind it’ll take a little longer to set
at room temperature—20 to 25 minutes—so you can put it in the fridge to speed
things up. And if you don’t have the three baking sheets called for, just wash
and reuse what you do have as you go along.
Special
Equipment
3 large (13" x 18") rimmed baking sheets
Large (12" or so) well-seasoned cast-iron skillet
Candy thermometer
Spider skimmer (see page 20) and 10" tweezers, or a
regular dinner fork (see Notes)
Nonpowdered latex or vinyl gloves (optional)
INGREDIENTS
For the buttercrunch center
1 pound (4 sticks/450 g) high-quality unsalted
butter, cubed, plus about 1 teaspoon for greasing a baking sheet
2 cups (385 g)
granulated sugar
½ teaspoon (2
g) kosher salt
For the coating
About 2½ cups
(10 ounces/300 g) chopped walnuts (see
Chopping Notes for Nuts, page 207)
1½ teaspoons
(5 g) kosher salt
About 4 cups
(26 ounces/740 g) chopped milk chocolate, or 4 cups (26 ounces/740 g) chopped
milk chocolate and ⅔ cup (150 g) mild vegetable oil (see Notes)
To make the buttercrunch center:
1 Generously
butter one of the baking sheets, making sure to get into the corners. Set it
aside on a heatproof surface.
2 Place the 1
pound butter, the sugar, and the salt in the cast-iron skillet and melt over
high heat, stirring once or twice with a whisk to combine.
3 Once the
butter is completely melted, reduce the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring
frequently with the whisk, until the mixture has thickened slightly and turned
a tan color, 15 to 20 minutes.
4 Insert the
candy thermometer, holding it with one hand to keep an eye on the temperature.
Continue to cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with the whisk,
until the mixture has reached 305°F/152°C (hard crack stage), 10 to 12 minutes.
5 Wearing oven
mitts (the skillet will be extremely hot), immediately remove the skillet from
the heat and pour the hot mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Allow it to
cool until it is slightly set but still soft, about 5 minutes.
6 Using a sharp
chef’s knife or bench scraper, score the buttercrunch into 1-inch squares,
marking the scores several times as it cools (the score marks will want to
close up when the mixture is still hot).
7 Allow the
buttercrunch to cool completely, about 1 hour. (Meanwhile, you can toast the
walnuts; see step 8.) When the buttercrunch is completely cooled and set, break
it into pieces along the score lines and place the pieces in a medium-size
bowl.
To coat the buttercrunch:
8 While the buttercrunch is cooling, toast the
walnuts: Preheat your oven to 250°F/120°C. Spread the walnuts in an even layer
on a large baking sheet and toast them, stirring occasionally, until they’re
golden brown and fragrant and the skins are starting to flake, about 20
minutes. Allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet, 20 to 30 minutes.
Then place the walnuts in a medium-size bowl, sprinkle the salt over them, and
toss well to combine.
9 Melt the 4
cups chocolate as directed on page 24, or use the 4 cups chocolate and ⅔ cup oil to
make Cheater’s Chocolate Coating following the instructions on page 32. Place
the melted chocolate or chocolate coating in a medium-size bowl.
10 Wash and dry the first large baking sheet and line it with wax
or parchment paper. Set up your dipping station, from left to right (or right
to left, if you’re a lefty), as follows: bowl with “naked” buttercrunch pieces;
bowl with melted chocolate or chocolate coating; skimmer and tweezers, or fork;
bowl of toasted, salted walnuts; lined baking sheet. If you want to use gloves,
put them on now (the walnuts will make a sticky, messy layer on your hands).
11 Dip the
buttercrunch: Working with a few pieces at a time, drop the naked buttercrunch
into the bowl of chocolate and submerge the pieces with the skimmer. Use the
skimmer to scoop and lift the candy out of the chocolate, tapping the skimmer
handle on the rim of the bowl to drain off the excess chocolate.
(Alternatively, if using a fork, drop the pieces in the chocolate and push them
under with the fork.)
12 Remove the
dipped buttercrunch pieces one by one with the tweezers or fork, and place
them, without touching each other, in the bowl of walnuts. Gently sprinkle the
walnuts over the dipped buttercrunch pieces to cover them completely. Carefully
remove the pieces from the bowl of walnuts, and lay them on the lined baking
sheet. Repeat this procedure until all the pieces are dipped and coated.
13 Let the
buttercrunch set completely, about 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Store the
buttercrunch, layered with wax paper, in an airtight container at cool room
temperature for up to 2 weeks, or in the fridge for up to 1 month. (We dare you
to try and hold on to it for that long.)
NOTES: If you don’t
have a spider skimmer or 10-inch tweezers, you can fake it with a regular
dinner fork, but it’ll take you about three times as long and the candies won’t
look quite as nice.
We specify milk
chocolate in this recipe, but you can use whatever chocolate you like. Rhonda
mixes a roughly 2:1 ratio of milk to dark chocolate, to cut back on the
sweetness a bit. If you have the chocolate and the inclination, go for it.
LIZ SAYS: Nerd Alert! More and more,
imported and specialty butters are showing up on grocery store shelves.
Cultured butter harks back to Ye Olden Dayes before butter-making was
mechanized, when cream from several farms and/or several rounds of milking was
collected so it could be made into butter all at once. Over the few days it sat
around, it would ferment somewhat as good bacteria (think yogurt) munched on
the lactose in the cream, converting it to lactic acid and giving the final
product a somewhat tangy character. Of course the taste preference is personal;
but when butter really has a chance to shine (as in this recipe), I prefer cultured
butter for the extra depth of flavor that it imparts.
