I was at Whole Foods last night staring at a Vosges Mo’s Bacon Chocolate Bar, remembering how I’d devoured one in a single sitting the week before. Scared that I’d do the same again if given the chance, I ran away without buying a bar. Then an hour later as I was sitting on my couch, I was thinking I’d been a fool. I started dreaming of salt and sweet variations. With no chocolate on hand, but plenty of bacon and nuts, I though, hmmm bacon pecan brittle….oh wait, I have Marcona almonds, bacon marcona brittle…..of course I’m one of those dudes who drowns his entire breakfast plate in syrup, so if I’m goin’ bacon, I gotta have some syrup…and voila, recipe below. It’s rare that I have such good ideas. Now I’m thinking chorizo marcona brittle, or marcona almond brittle with a touch of smoked paprika…stay tuned!
Note: If you want your brittle to look clear as in the picture above, skip the step of adding butter and baking soda…on the other hand if you want your brittle to taste optimal and have great texture then keep those ingredients in, which will result in a brittle that’s a bit cloudier than the pic above.
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1-1/2 cups real maple syrup
1-1/2 cups marcona almonds
3 strips cooked applewood smoked Bacon (love Niman Ranch here) chopped into little pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
Method
1. Line a sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper
2. In a heavy 5-quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, combine sugar, corn syrup, and maple syrup, stir to combine. Cover the pot, and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, about 5 minutes. Keeping the lid on the pot will prevent sugar crystals from forming inside the pot; however, should crystals form, wash down the sides with a wet pastry brush. If you let crystals form, the consistency of the brittle will suck.
3. Once steam begins to rise around the lid, remove it and reduce heat to medium. Insert candy or deep fry thermometer.
4. When mixture reaches 300 degrees (hard-crack stage), about 13 to 18 minutes, the mixture should be a rich, golden brown. Add nuts and bacon.
5. Immediately remove from heat, and quickly add butter and baking soda. Stir with a metal spoon until butter melts; mixture will become foamy. Pour mixture onto the silpat or parhcment lined pan; spread it evenly with a spatula, as thin as possible for better consistency. Allow brittle to cool for at least 1 hour.
6. Turn brittle out of the pan, and snap it into shards.