Pumpkin Seed Brittle

I made this today for our Halloween party; you all have to run out and make it RIGHT NOW!!1!11! Really, it's wicked good.

2 c sugar
1 c light corn syrup
1 c water
1/2 t salt
2 c raw, hulled pumpkin seeds, aka pepitas (or you could use seeds from a pumpkin you carved if they were washed well and toasted slightly so they were quite dry. In that case I'd add them when the sugar syrup hit 250.)
2 t baking soda (smoosh out the lumps)
3 T unsalted butter

1. Heavily butter a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 pan (i.e., a regular rectangular cookie sheet, but with sides) and also an offset spatula (or use a regular one.) measure out the butter and the soda into little dishes and put them, along with the pan and spatula, next to the stove. Go on, it'll make you feel like a TV chef.

2. Stir sugar, corn syrup and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a candy thermometer, over medium heat (err towards the high side) until sugar dissolves. Add salt and cook to 260 (it will take a while to get there, but you don't really need to stir it at this point. Just every now and again.)

3. When the mixture hits 260, add the pumpkin seeds and start stirring. Keep stirring until you reach 290 (hard crack stage.) The temperature will fall but will rebound pretty quickly. Some of the seeds will pop, and they and the syrup will get amber-colored.

4. Turn off the heat when it reaches 290, and add the baking soda and butter. Stir furiously while the mixture foams up (only a few seconds.) Quickly pour it into the prepared pan and smooth it out with the spatula. Let cool completely and break into pieces.Save the dust to put on ice cream (precious, sparkly dust.) Put in an airtight container. This would probably keep for a while, but you ain't never going to find out.

If you've never made candy before, words like "hard crack stage" are scary. Candy is not, actually, all that hard to make, though it's easier to do so in a dry place. It has a chemistry-set aspect to it: as long as you follow the rules precisely, and manage not to burn yourself, it will turn out as advertised. (The burn-yourself danger is greatest with caramel; when you add the cream to the sugar syrup it goes nuts. Other types of candies, not so much, but your kids can't help you.) You do need an accurate candy thermometer, which you should periodically test by putting it in boiling water and making sure it registers 212. My mom gave me a nice one a few years ago, with silicon grips. Make sure the thermometer isn't touching the bottom of the pan, as it will give a false reading. in general, it takes longer to cook than you think, although for the most part you're not actually doing anything. There's a bit of waiting around as you stare at the thermometer--is it ever going to go up?! It is, and will heat more quickly at the higher temperatures (I can't think why.) Make this candy! Make this candy nooooooowwww!!! /Giblets, PBUH.

Comments

[Jake]

That does indeed sound wicked good. I've got some pepitas lying around that are now bound for brittle.

And now for fun with food science...

There's a bit of waiting around as you stare at the thermometer--is it ever going to go up?! It is, and will heat more quickly at the higher temperatures (I can't think why.)

The temperature of the candy depends on its water content. The more water there is, the closer the boiling point is to 212F. As the water evaporates, the boiling point goes up. Water evaporates faster from a 250 degree syrup than from a 220 degree syrup. So, the less water there is, the hotter it gets, and the hotter it gets, the quicker the water goes away.

[belle waring]

hey, cool. thanks jake.

[Jackmormon]

I burned myself something awful making saffron almond brittle a couple of days ago. Be careful, people!

[ben wolfson]

That sounds delicious, JM.

[ben wolfson]

I'm not talking about the brittle, either.

[The Modesto Kid]

(But the brittle does, natheless, sound delicious.)