Makes: 16 Bars
Prep. Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
• Cornflour
• 2 sheets of rice paper
• 250 g sugar
• 100 ml honey
• 50 ml water
• 2 egg whites
• 200 g hazelnuts, toasted until golden, skins removed
• 50 g dried cranberries (optional)
Method:
- Grease an oblong baking tin and dust with cornflour. Shake to remove excess and line the tin with a layer of rice paper. Heat the sugar, honey and water in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved (use a wet brush to remove sugar crystals that form on the inside of the pan before the mixture comes to the boil or they will crystallise).
- Boil without stirring until just past the hard-crack stage (150°C to 152°C). Test for hard-crack stage by dropping some of the boiling-hot syrup in iced water. If it forms hard, thread-like splinters it’s ready. Take care that the mixture doesn’t turn too dark; it happens very quickly. Remove from the heat.
- Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they just begin to form stiff peaks. (They should be beaten by the time the syrup is ready.) Don’t overbeat. Add the syrup in a thin stream, beating continuously. Whisk until the mixture has cooled.
- Using a metal or melamine spoon, rapidly fold in the hazelnuts and cranberries (if using).
- Quickly spoon the mixture onto the rice paper and spread evenly. Cover with the remaining rice paper and chill for a few hours. Cut it into bars (the mixture might still be slightly runny).
You magazine 15 March 2012