Edible Holiday Gifts: Spicy Caramel Cashew Corn

Every year around this time I try to take up knitting. I've always wanted to give hand knit hats and scarves and chunky cowls as gifts, but every year I get about 20 rows into the same scarf and give up. Patience for learning new tasks is hard for me to come by these days. The thing is, I really love to give hand made gifts. So after giving up on knitting and purling I inevitably end up in the kitchen stirring boiling hot pots of sugar, rolling out cookie doughs and pulling the sprinkles down from the top shelf to decorate cookie ornaments. Over the years I've built up quite a repertoire of tasty gifts and this caramel corn is one of my favorite snacks to bring to a holiday party. It also looks oh so cute packed up in little jars or bags for party favors. It is salty, sweet with just a hint of heat from the cayenne pepper and it is totally addictive. I use mushroom corn here which is a super fluffy variety of popcorn that is just perfect for holding lots and lots of tasty caramel and can handle the stirring without breaking, but good old fashioned jiffy pop works too.

Spicy Caramel Cashew Corn
yield about 2 quarts of finished caramel corn

3T oil
1/2c popcorn kernels (mushroom corn if you can find it)
2c sugar
3T butter
1T salt
1 1/2t baking soda
1/2t cayenne pepper
1t cinnamon
1/2t freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups salted cashews

To Pop the Corn

Use an air popper OR if you are like me, do it on the stovetop

1. Heat the 3T of oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat, drop a few un popped kernels in there while the oil is heating. When the kernels pop, the oil is ready to go.
2. When the oil is hot, toss in the 1/2c of popcorn kernels, put on the lid and shake the pan back and forth a few times to coat all of the kernels with hot oil. As the popcorn pops, shake the pan every 30 seconds or so to prevent the bottom kernels from scorching. Once the time between "pops" slows down to a few seconds, it's done. Immediately turn the popcorn out into a large bowl.
3. When the pop corn is cool, carefully go through and remove all of the un-popped kernels then pour the cashews on top of the popcorn, without stirring them in.

For the Caramel

1. Lightly oil 2 wooden spoons or spatulas (these will be used to stir the caramel into the popcorn) and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or lightly oil it (this will be used to cool the caramel covered corn).
2. In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat add the sugar, butter, salt and 1/2c water. Bring the mixture to a boil (without stirring) and let it boil vigorously until it turns a light golden caramel, 10-14min.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the spices and baking soda. The baking soda will make the mixture foam and expand so make sure you are using a large pot. The spices will cause the caramel to darken in color.
4. Immediately and carefully pour the caramel over the popcorn and cashews, grab your oiled spatulas and start gently tossing the mixture together. Keep stirring until the corn and cashews are evenly coated, then turn the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and gently separate the kernels. You don't need to go crazy here, but try to get it in an even layer.

To give as gifts

Package a few cups of the corn in a mason jar, weck jar, or pretty glassine bag tied with a ribbon and a label.

Notes

- To wash all of your caramel covered bowls, spoons, and pots just soak them in really hot water and all of the sugar will just melt off.
-You can buy your own mushroom popcorn kernels here. I've ordered from JustPoppin.com quite a few times and their customer service is great, plus I really like their name.

Quince Frangipane Tartlets

I know I just mentioned it, but my family really does send the best care packages. Last week I got a sweet smelling box full of quince straight from my ma and pa in Seattle. If you've never had the pleasure, quince are a magical little fruit. They are lumpy and bumpy, sometimes covered with fuzz and totally inedible when raw, but when cooked they turn a rosy hue and taste kind of like a tropical, floral pear. Fancy! Theses guys were a little worse for wear from the trip across country so I took the prettiest of the batch and simply poached them to use in these fab tarts. I know frangipane sounds complicated, but its really just some ground almonds mixed with sugar and eggs, and the tart dough is a cinch to put together too. Just mix up the ingredients in a food processor or with your hands and pat it into a tart pan, no rolling required. Oh, and the gnarliest quince of the batch became a preserve perfect for the Thanksgiving table that I will share soon.

Poached Quince
makes enough for the tarts, plus some extra for snacking

5c water
2c sugar
1/2 lemon, cut into 1/4'' wedges
1/2 vanilla bean or 1t vanilla extract
4 medium quince, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges each

Over medium heat, combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon, vanilla bean and quince and stir gently to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook the quince gently until they are soft and fork tender, but not mushy. This can take from 20-40 minutes depending on how ripe your quince are and how thickly they are sliced

Store the quince in their syrup until you are ready to use them. Serve the extra with yogurt or ice cream, or enjoy them as they are.

Pate Sable, Sweet Tart Dough
from Dorie Greenspan
for 1, 9'' tart or 6, 4'' tartlets

1 1/2c flour
1/2c confectioner's sugar
1/2t salt
9T cold, cubed butter
1 egg yolk (save the white for later)

1. In the bowl of a food processor or with a pastry blender, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas. Add the yolk and pulse until the mixture begins to clump a bit.
2. Lightly butter your tart pan or pans and gently press the crumbly dough into the pan. Make sure to evenly coat the bottom and the sides while being careful to not compact the dough too much. You may have a bit of extra dough, save it just in case you have to repair any cracks later on. Freeze the tart shell for 30min.
3. Preheat your oven to 375º and bake the tart shell (no need for pie weights) until it is lightly golden, repair any cracks that may have formed with your leftover dough. Cool the shell on a rack while you prepare the rest of the tart.

Frangipane, Almond Filling
Again from my girl, Dorie Greenspan

6T soft butter
2/3c sugar
3/4c ground, blanched almonds
1 egg plus one egg white (leftover from making the dough)
2t flour
1t cornstarch
1t vanilla extract
1t almond extract
pinch salt

In the bowl of the food processor, combine the butter and sugar and pulse until smooth. Add the almonds and blend. Then add the flour and cornstarch followed by the egg and egg white and finally the extracts and salt. Mix until just combined.


To assemble

Spread the frangipane into the cooled tart shell or shells, it should come up just below the edge of the shell. Remove the wedges of quince from their poaching liquid and lightly drain them on a paper towel. If you are making mini tarts, I suggest slicing the wedges even thinner before placing them on top of the frangipane in a decorative pattern. If you are making one large tart, arrange the quince wedges in a decorative pattern on top of the frangipane, you will need about 2 total quince for this.

Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 350º oven until the crust and frangipane are golden and set, 20-30min for tartlets and 45-50min for a large tart. Cool on a wire rack and dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

Notes:

- I always grind the almonds for the frangipane in the food processor before making the dough and I don't bother washing out the bowl in between recipes. A little ground almond residue won't hurt the crust at all and then get this, I make the frangipane in the same bowl without washing it. So now you know my little secret, I hate doing dishes in my teeny tiny sink.
-This recipe is also fantastic with poached pears instead of quince.
-Do you love quince too? Here is another great quince recipe from the archives.