Almond Roca

Every now and then I find a yummy looking recipe on pinterest or some random cook book and I get a itch to do some cooking/baking.  Well time after time I start in on my cooking project and I found I either have no clue what I'm doing or it take 9 TIMES LONGER THEN I THOUGHT!!! So I have come to the conclusion that EVERY recipe should come with step by step instructions or pictures!

Toast almonds and spread on the bottom of a pan

Bring to a boil stirring constantly

continue to stir....get comfy, this part takes a long time

Pulled over my squishy mat, and got my sweats on. This is as comfy as you can get in the kitchen

Watching me some Glee while I continue to wait (horrible show.....but it was Christmasy) 

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

Look at those guns! ( there there......the long johns are just hiding them ;)
Not even kidding....my arm was tired from stirring so long!

Spread mixture over the almonds ( be fast about this step.....it sets up fast)

TA-DAH!!!!!!

MY ALTERATIONS/NOTES

·         First off……….be SOOOOO careful toasting your almonds. Those babies go from not cooked at all to BURNT so stinkin fast. So right when you can smell them, take them off the heat.

·         I only had dark brown sugar. It works just the same just makes the roca part darker.

·         So the way the recipe made it sound, I thought this treat would be fast to whoop up. But the part when you have to bring the temperature up to 300 degrees……that takes a LONG time. I didn’t time it (shucks I wish I did…but I didn’t)  But it was close to 25 minutes…..that's a lot of stirring. If you try to turn up the heat to warm it faster…..it burns. So just get comfy!

·         Things I would change: I put mine in a cake pan so it all was thin. ( sorry I’m fresh out of 7x11 pans…..do they even make those??? ) So next time I make this I would double the roca part. On the Bottom layer of almonds I would double that as well. This batch I made the main thing I could taste was the chocolate. So I would double everything else and it would have been PERFECT!!!

Almond Roca

¾ cup toasted, chopped almonds ***

1 C light brown sugar

1 C (2 sticks) butter

6 oz (about 1 cup) milk chocolate chips

Butter a 7x11 inch pan. Sprinkle half of the almonds on the bottom of the pan.

 In a heavy sauce pan, over medium high heat, melt the butter and then add the brown sugar. Stir gently until boiling. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling until the temperature reaches 300 degrees (hard crack stage). Use a candy thermometer. If temperature goes high then 320 it will not set up.

Pour the hot mixture over the almonds in the buttered pan. Pour the chocolate chips over the top and let them sit for a minute or two to melt.  Once they are melty, use a spatula to spread them evenly over the top. Sprinkle remaining chopped almonds over the melted chocolate. Let the whole things cool until the chocolate has set. Use a knife to break the almond roca into pieces.

*** To toast almonds spread them in a dry skillet and cook them over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they begin to lightly brown and you can smell them. Let them cool completely. Toasting nuts gives them a much crunchier texture and a richer flavor.