See Also: Candies · Cooking Club · Desserts · Italy
Croccante
From Dorothy McNett's recipes at www.dorothymcnett.com. Use this nut confection as a crispy addition for sliced fresh fruits.
1-1/2 cups raw almonds
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 potato, cut in half
1-2 cups fresh fruits, as desired
2-3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese, if desired
Chop almonds semi-fine (food processor with steel chopping blade works great!) and place in batter bowl. Cook in microwave on full power 1 1/2 minutes. Stir. Cook another 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and set aside. Or, toast almonds spread out on a cookie sheet in hot oven for about 15-20 minutes and then set aside. In heavy bottomed skillet or sauce pan, heat the sugar and water, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula. Cook until the sugar turns a deep tawny brown and has a caramelized aroma. It needs to be quite brown, but not burned. This may take 5-6 minutes, watch and stir carefully. Stir in the chopped almonds and quickly pour mixture into a thin mass onto a silicone lined baking sheet. Using the potato as a "pusher", spread the coated almonds as thinly as possible. Allow to cool at room temperature and then break apart into desired sizes and serve with fruits, or crush in food processor to use as a coating for chocolate truffles, etc. Try dicing the berries and then folding in a few tablespoons of the mascarpone cheese, then place in beautiful glasses or cups and arrange a few slivers of the croccante around it.
Recipe created 1995-01-01.
