Dec 13
Chocolate covered pretzels are probably the most common example of a salty/sweet treat, but they have got nothing on the scrumptious cakes, cookies, ice creams and puddings in Salty Sweets. As author Christie Matheson writes, “Sweet is sweet, but it can be kind of one-dimensional. But when you add a salty element to said sweet – even if the result is not an overtly salty flavor – the treat in question gets seriously amped up.”
Some of the recipes that I’ve tried or want to try include Perfectly Imperfect Pecan Pralines, Toffee Cookies with Dark Chocolate Glaze, Lemon Cake with Lemon-Brown Sugar Glaze, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Nantucket Sea Salt Ice Cream and Salted Caramel Ice Cream. Is your stomach growling yet? The fine folks at Harvard Common Press have allowed us to reprint a recipe here, and I’ve picked one of my favorites, so get cooking!
Perfectly Imperfect Pecan Pralines
makes 25 to 30 good-size pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons bourbon (or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract)
1 cup lightly toasted pecan halves
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium-size saucepan, combine the sugar, cream, butter, salt, molasses, and bourbon and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. After it starts to boil, boil for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool just until the mixture completely stops bubbling. Add the pecan halves and stir them in well, then quickly pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and spread it out as much as you can. (It will get thick quickly while you’re doing this – so this is the time to remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect!)
- Let cool completely, the break the praline into bite-size pieces (you get to decide what “bite-size” means… and snack on the little shards that don’t measure up). The pralines will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Excerpted from Salty Sweets, by Christie Matheson. (c) 2009,
used by permission from The Harvard Common Press.
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We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post:
Salty Sweets by Christie Matheson, Harvard Common Press hardcover
(all information is for the U.S. editions).
Salty Sweets by Christie Matheson, Harvard Common Press hardcover
(all information is for the U.S. editions).
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