In my last blog about the Antichi Mestieri there was a photo of il banco dei dolci, which showed a cook making il croccante (literally: the crunchy). A couple of days ago, per puro caso (by sheer chance), I came across this recipe. If you want to have a go at making il croccante at home here it is:

Ingredienti = Ingredients:

300 gr. di mandorle = 300 grams of almonds

300 gr. di zucchero bianco  = 300 grams of white sugar

1 cucchiaino di succo di limone = 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

2 cucchiai di acqua = 2 tablespoons of water

mezzo limone = half a lemon

Preparazione = Preparation:

Put the almonds in a saucepan with boiling water. Bring the water back to boiling point and then turn it off. Drain the almonds, remove the dark peel, and pat them dry. Spread the peeled almonds on a backing tray, and put the tray in a medium hot oven at 160 degrees C for about 5 minutes. Roughly chop half of the roasted almonds.

Put two tablespoons of water in a saucepan, add the sugar and the lemon juice, and put it over a very low heat, stirring all the time until the sugar caramelizes becoming a deep golden colour. Add all the almonds (both chopped and whole), and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Pour the mixture on an oiled marble surface (very common here in Italy, after all we have the famous marmo di Carrara = Carrara marble). If you don’t have a marble surface in your kitchen, you can use a baking tray or a large chopping board lined with greaseproof paper. Spread the caramel mixture and flatten it to a thickness of about one centimetre. Use half a lemon to rub the surface of the croccante, this will help to smooth it down. Leave the mixture to harden a bit, and then cut it into squares.

Variazioni =  Variations:

Instead of almonds you can use nocciole (hazelnuts), arachidi (peanuts), semi di sesamo (sesame seeds), or you can try and use your favourite type of nuts or seeds. Il croccante coi semi di sesamo (the sesame seeds crunchy) is usually thinner and paler in colour than that made with nuts.

Occhio ai denti! = mind your teeth! Warning: you’ll need strong teeth to be able to eat this hard and sticky sweet without any trouble!