New Year Treats For Your Honey

This is a super easy and delicious recipe for fool proof Almond Roca "style" candy

It has just 6 ingredients and takes about 15 minutes to make

The main thing to remember when making candy is it all happens pretty quickly and you need to have all of your ingredients measured and near your stove before you begin

You may want to purchase a candy thermometer if you are nervous about temperature control... or you can live dangerously like I do...and just wing it and hope for the best!

I have made some mistakes with this candy by over cooking it but 

I just dump it out and start over

 So here is what you need:

1 Cup Butter

1 Cup Sugar

2 Tbl Water

1 Tbl Light Corn Syrup

1 Cup Chopped Almonds

4-6 Regular Sized Hershey Bars

 In a large heavy sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat

* a note on butter...use good quality unsalted butter.  Lesser quality butter tends to have more water and it can affect the density of the finished candy 

 When the butter has melted, 

add the sugar and heat to a boil, stirring constantly 

* a note on stirring....use a wooden spoon and stir stir stir...

never let the sugar mixture sit or it will burn

 When the sugar comes to a rolling boil

 it will have large bubbles

 Add the corn syrup and the water...and keep stirring

 You are still working over medium to medium high heat and now you will start to see some color and the sugar mixture will start to thicken...but just keep stirring!

 After 10 to 15 minutes your candy will start to really thicken and will be a rich golden brown color.  If you are using a candy thermometer it will read 290 degrees or "hard crack"

 Working really quickly

 pour you candy mixture into a sheet pan

This mixture is really hot 

so be super careful not to splash any...it really hurts...!

 While my empty sauce pan is still hot

 I set it in the sink and fill with hot water for easy clean up

 You are now ready to add the chocolate and the nuts

After years of making this 

my family really loves the darker more bittersweet chocolate 

but you can use any chocolate that you like

I also like the nuts really roughly chopped...not too fine...I use a food processor 

but a knife will do the trick here too

 Break up the candy bar 

and gently set over the still very hot caramel  mixture

 You can see the chocolate start to melt

 Using an offset spatula 

gently smooth the candy bar chocolate 

over the caramel candy surface

And finally top with the chopped almonds

 Set your candy on a cooling rack or hot pad and allow to cool

When the candy has cooled 

let it get really hard and cold 

by refrigerating for another an hour

 Break the cold Almond Roca into large chunks 

with a chefs knife

I put mine in zip lock bags,  refrigerate some 

and freeze the rest

 Trust me on this one...it wont last long!

 This is a wonderful dessert treat with coffee 

and I confess I have eaten it for breakfast!

And  It is a perfect compliment with a glass of bubbly 

to ring in the New Year

Happy New Year Everyone

Wishing you all good things in 2013

Cheers