Sweet and Salty Crunchy Nut Bars
- 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate (or 1 heaping cup chips)
- 4 ounces milk chocolate (or 1/2 cup chips) (or 11 ounces milk chocolate instead)
- 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons golden syrup (recommended: Lyle's)
- 2 1/4 cups salted peanuts
- 6 ounces honeycomb candy
- Special equipment: 1 (10-inch) springform pan or 1 rectangular aluminum foil pan approx. 13 by 9 by 2 inches
- Be still my beating heart!
- Or perhaps this is not the best thing to say here, given the likelihood of this lusciously over-the-top piece of chocolate excess inducing just such an outcome.
- I wouldn't want to make this very often, so impossible is it to walk away from with any conviction.
- I fear it is the kitchen equivalent to crack cocaine.
- Still, as the French say "Everything in moderation, even moderation."
- This is gloriously intemperate, riotously vulgar.
- I love it.
- The key is the blaring balance between sweet and salty: it's like several klaxons going off in your head as you eat.
- And it's strange that while I would normally eschew an all-milk chocolate offering, I prefer it here to the bittersweet-and-milk mixed version.
- Not that either is bad, and since the jury is matched on this, I feel it only right to alert you to either option.
- For what it's worth, I like the darker version in the round pan and cut into panforte-type skinny wedges, and my preferred milk chocolate version set in a rectangular pan and cut into chunky, squat slabs (rather as I feel and look like after eating too many of them).
- Line your springform pan with aluminum foil or use a foil pan.
- Break up or chop the chocolate into pieces, and drop into a heavy-based saucepan.
- Add the butter and syrup, put on a low heat, and melt gently together.
- Tip the peanuts into a bowl, and crush the honeycomb candy with your hands, letting the golden-glinting rubble fall into the nuts.
- Take the melted chocolate mixture off the heat and stir in the peanuts and crushed honeycomb candy, then tip straight into the springform pan or foil pan.
- Smooth the top of the mixture as much as you can, pressing down with a silicon spatula or vinyl-disposable-gloved hand.
- Put into the refrigerator for about 4 hours, and once set, cut into slices as desired.
- Make Ahead Note: The bars can be made 1 day ahead.
- Transfer slices to airtight container, layered with parchment paper, and store in refrigerator.
- Keeps for 3 to 4 days.
bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, butter, golden syrup, peanuts, honeycomb, springform pan
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/sweet-and-salty-crunchy-nut-bars-recipe.html (may not work)