Brittle (food)
Brittle is a type of confection consisting of flat broken pieces of hard sugar candy embedded with nuts such as pecans, almonds, or peanuts, which are usually less than 1 cm thick. Types. It has many variations around the world, such as "pasteli" in Greece; sohan in Iran; "croquant" in France; "alegría" or "palanqueta" in Mexico; "panocha mani", "panutsa mani", or "samani" in the Philippines (which can also be made with pili nut); "gozinaki" in Georgia; "gachak" in Indian Punjab, chikki in other parts of India; "kotkoti" in Bangladesh; "sohan halwa" in Pakistan; "huasheng tang" (花生糖) in China ; "thua tat" (ถั่วตัด) in Thailand; and "kẹo lạc, kẹo hạt điều" in Vietnam. In parts of the Middle East, brittle is made with pistachios, while many Asian countries use sesame seeds and peanuts. Peanut brittle is the most popular brittle recipe in the United States. The term "brittle" in the context of the food first appeared in print in 1892, though the candy itself has been around for much longer. Preparation. Traditionally, a mixture of sugar and water is heated to the hard crack stage corresponding to a temperature of approximately to , although some recipes also call for ingredients such  as glucose and salt in the first step. Nuts are mixed with the caramelized sugar. At this point spices, leavening agents, and often peanut butter or butter are added. The hot candy is poured out onto a flat surface for cooling, traditionally a granite, a marble slab or a baking sheet. The hot candy may be troweled to uniform thickness. When the brittle is cool enough to handle, it is broken into pieces. It is also rare to break the brittle into equal pieces. Nougatine. Nougatine is a similar confection to brittle, but made of sliced almonds instead of whole  peanuts, which are embedded in clear caramel.