Chocolate Hazelnut Butterscotch
By Rachel Davies
As we drove into Kerikeri, a town near the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, we were greeted by a chocolate factory called Makana, and a sign offering free tastings.
What could go wrong?
So we turned into the car park and, while inhaling the smell of chocolate and caramelized sugar, made our way into the shop with a glass-fronted kitchen.
We tasted an amazing butterscotch brittle called ‘Macadamia Butter Toffee Crunch’, and it was so good we took a box away to give to my sister-in-law in Australia.
After handing it over, the box was almost immediately devoured.
I tried to make a second batch to replace the first. I didn’t have a sugar thermometer, so the result was tasty but too squidgy.
Here is version three, crunchy and full of deliciousness!
You really do need a sugar thermometer here, but don’t be put off. It’s really easy once you’re got the right equipment, and the results are moreish!
Chocolate Hazelnut Butterscotch
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Ingredients
200g toasted hazelnuts (you could use almonds or macadamia nuts too)
2 tablespoons water
115g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
50g light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
140g Cadbury’s chocolate buttons (or other chocolate, finely chopped)
A pinch of sea salt flakes
Method
- Heat the nuts in a pan until lightly toasted.
- Line a baking tray with non-stick paper, and spread half the nuts over the tray.
- In a medium, heavy-based pan, heat the water, butter and both sugars, stirring as little as possible, until the sugar thermometer reads 150C.
- Immediately take off the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda and vanilla. Then pour over the nuts on the tray as evenly as possible.
- Drop the chocolate buttons over the top of the hot butterscotch, leave for two minutes until melted, and spread the chocolate over the butterscotch with a spatula.
- Sprinkle the remaining nuts and a pinch of sea salt over the chocolate, pressing lightly into the chocolate.
- Leave to cool completely. You might need to put it in the fridge. Then break into pieces and keep in an airtight container.
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