Monday, November 20, 2006

Pumpkin Seed Brittle


A lot of the food blogs that I read on a regular basis featured pumpkin seed brittle last month. I thought this was such a great creation. I took this recipe from Tartelette from her post where she featured it with Burnt Sugar Ice Cream. Her pumpkin seed brittle recipe was from Martha Stewart.

I don't have a candy thermometer, so the creation of this brittle was the result of two trials. The first of which resulted in one extremely scorched pan and enough swearing that CB ran clean across the house into the kitchen thinking that I had caused bodily harm. In the second trial I was determined to not burn the mixture, which led to me not cooking it enough, laying it on the cookie sheet, and waiting for it to cool, only to realize that I had made caramel with pumpkin seeds in it because the mixture would not harden. I called my mom who told me that I needed to get the mixture to "ball state" after some snickering and juvenile remarks about creating a sweet ball state I rolled the caramel like seed mixture into a ball and put it back on the stove top over high heat. I had no expectations at this point considering I was taking the mixture from liquid to solid to liquid state again, but after I got the mixture bubbling hot and dropped a few pieces into a bowl of water, and indeed they did reach the "ball state" I poured the mixture back onto the cookie sheet and within 30 minutes I was breaking the pieces apart and my pumpkin seed brittle was a success. Yes! Note to self, get a damn candy thermometer.

Pumpkin Seed Brittle, from Martha Stewart and Tartelette
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking sheet
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds, rinsed well, dried, and toasted

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 11-by-17- inch rimmed baking sheet; set aside.
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar and honey. Bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until mixture is medium amber and a candy thermometer registers 280°, about 6 minutes. Stir in pumpkin seeds. Cook until mixture reaches 300°, about 2 minutes. Pour onto prepared baking sheet. Let cool completely. Break into pieces.

4 comments:

wheresmymind said...

Oh man...burned sugar is SO not fun! Neither was my burned butter that I pulled off this past weekend :D

Anonymous said...

I am telling you, a candy thermometer makes all the difference! Thanks for visiting my blog. I am thinking of making your pumpkin soup tonight. You have a great blog!

Anonymous said...

I meant "a" pumpkin soup, although I would not mind if you shared your recipe.

JB said...

Helene,
I hadn't realized that I didn't put the recipe in that post. I've added it now. Let me know if you use the recipe and if you like it or not. I really love it and make it every year.