Honey Caramels
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated, white sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup of honey (tip: spray the measuring cup with non stick spray so it comes out easily)
- 4 oz butter (8 tablespoons) - use the highest quality butter you can find
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat the sugar and honey in a large pot on medium heat and allow the mixture to dissolve and deepen in color.
- While the sugar-honey is dissolving, heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.
- Once the sugar-honey has darkened a bit (~7-10 minutes), add in the butter and cream. Stir until combined.
- Clip your candy thermometer on to your pot and heat over medium-high until the mixture reaches about 248 degrees for a medium-chew. 248 degrees for a chewy candy and 250 for a firm candy.
- Remove the pot from the heat and VERY quickly and carefully stir in the vanilla extract and salt (it will bubble violently).
- Pour the molten caramel into a glass dish (9x9 works well) lined with heavy parchment paper or silicone baking mold.
- Let cool for at least 2 hours then slice and wrap individually -
Shirini Keshmeshi - Persian Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon golab (rosewater)
- 1¾ cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups raisins (try to find regular size raisins, not the jumbo ones if possible)
- 2⅓ cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Mix up the butter, rosewater (golab), vanillaand sugar until combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until smooth.
- Fold in the raisins.
- Fold in the flour a bit at a time – this part takes some elbow grease but take your time.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes while preheating your oven to 350 F degrees.
- Scoop out the dough and roll them into balls about the size of a ping-pong ball and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, with plenty of room between, these cookies spread out a LOT.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the edges of the cookie are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing from baking sheet.
Sohan-e Qom - Persian Saffron Brittle Candy
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp sprouted wheat flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons water
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons corn syrup (either light or dark works fine)
- ½ tsp ground/powdered cardamom
- ½ tsp ground/powdered saffron (dry, not dissolved)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ slivered almonds (optional)
- ½ cup shelled, raw or roasted, unsalted pistachios, crushed
Instructions
- Very important: get your mise-en-place in place ready before you start cooking. I arrange mine as small bowls of: flours, spices and salt, corn syrup, butter, sugar and finally the crushed pistachios. Also, spread several large sheets of parchment paper on your counter near the stove that you will use to pour the hot sohan mixture on to cool. You could also use a glass or silicone dish.
- Add the flours and sugar to a non-stick pot and heat over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes (stirring frequently).
- Add in the water and stir until all the sugars are dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil.
- Clip the candy thermometer onto your pot now.
- Add in the butter and stir until melted.
- Add in the corn syrup, salt and spices and continue to stir.
- You want your mixture to get to 260 F, just right about the SOFT CRACK stage of making candy. The hotter you let it get above that, the more the sohan will become like 'hard candy'. Pay very close attention to the temperature because a couple degrees one way or another can make a huge difference in how hard the candy is at the end.
- Once it hits 260 F, cut the heat, quickly stir in the almonds then carefully (but be fast!) pour the mixture onto the parchment into small circles (with room to spread). You should get about 5-6 sohan circles.
- Sprinkle the crushed pistachio into the sohan rounds and using the back of a spoon or side of a mug, smush the pistachios into the sohan until it's flattened out.
- Let cool
