Cashew Bacon Brittle and a Fabulous Week

This has been a fabulous week ! First of all the Will Bake for Food Bake Sale, organized by Jenny from Rainy Day Gal and Jenny from Purple House Dirt is maxed out with 60 bloggers baking for food ! What a great group of people in the foodie world-I'm honored to be a part of it. And applause applause to THE JENNYS for coming up with this idea and doing all the organizing and hard work behind the scenes. If you live anywhere near Seattle you must attend ! Saturday , November 20 at University Congregational Church from 10am to 2pm or until we run out. See all the details here bring your non perishables or cash! Hope to see you there !

In the mean time if you want to try something I'm taking to the Bake Sale, try this recipe for Bacon Cashew Brittle. I used Karen DeMasco's Basic Cashew Brittle recipe and added the bacon..mmmm good.

Cashew Bacon Brittle
adapted from Karen DeMasco’s The Craft of Baking
Ingredients:
Non-stick cooking spray
2 cups sugar
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) salted roasted cashews
12oz bacon

Preparation:
Lay the strips of bacon side by side on a baking sheet lined with foil (helps with clean up). Bake at 400 degrees until crispy-takes anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on the quality and thickness of bacon. You want it crispy not burned. Once the bacon is done place it on a paper towel and press out any excess grease-let it cool until room temperature. Chop into tiny little pieces and mix in the with cashews.

Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray: set it aside.

Combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. Stir together so that all of the sugar is wet.

Cook the mixture over high heat without stirring until it turns a dark amber color, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Carefully whisk in the baking soda, followed by the salt; the caramel will rise and bubble. Using a wooden or metal spoon, fold in the cashews.

Pour the brittle onto the prepared baking sheet, and using the back of the spoon, spread it into a layer about 1/2 inch thick. You have to work quickly during this step so you don't end up with a giant mountain of brittle. The best hints I have ever come across for this step are:
1. Heat the baking sheet in a 150 degree oven before you pour the brittle mix.
2. After you have poured it quickly cover it with plastic wrap or a silicone mat and take your rolling pin and roll out the brittle to the thickness you would like. This is a perfect way to get it even thickness and eliminate all those little hair like strands of brittle that form when you are trying to flatten it with spoon or other utensil.

Let it cool completely. Break the brittle into bite-size pieces, using a mallet or the back of a heavy knife.The brittle can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Warning-this is very very addictive-don't say I didn't warn you ! Look for the little baggies of this at the Bake Sale.

Oh yes, something else that made this a fabulous weekend I got my last post " Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Oregon Coast " published at OurOregonCoast.com , very cool . OK wish me luck this Thursday and Friday, I'll be baking my heart out for the bake sale-hope you can stop by !