Peanut Brittle

I've never made toffee or peanut brittle before, but Stephen convinced me we should try, as brittle is one of his favourites and he hasn't made any for years - so at 1030 the other night, this is what we were doing.

Put 3 cups of caster sugar and 1 cup of water in a heavy-based pan and heat, while stirring, until sugar dissolves.

Once dissolved, boil for around 10 minutes until it goes golden.

That's what it tells you to do in the recipes - but ours was taking ages and we were waiting at least 30 minutes before we decided maybe we should turn up the heat and boil it more rapidly.

Once it was boiling more rapidly it pretty quickly went golden, and when a drop of the hot sugar was put into a glass of cold water, there was a distinctive 'crack' sound which meant it was ready.

We used a large baking tray lined with buttered baking paper, and spread roasted peanuts over. (Protect the table/work surface underneath the pan, as the whole thing gets very hot.)

The peanuts could have been spread more evenly, but the non-peanut edges were good for the children who don't like peanuts.

And we found for those who do like peanuts, the middle part of the brittle (with lots of peanuts in) was the best part - so maybe next time more peanuts would be better.

Allow to cool, then break into chunks/shards.

Ingredients:
3 cups caster sugar
1 cup water
200 g (or more) roasted peanuts (unsalted)

Pecan Pie

This was the first time I had made pecan pie, and I used a recipe my sister Claire gave to me a long, long time ago. I knew I'd make it eventually! In my house you get to choose the type of birthday cake you get, and this was my husband's choice.

Start by crushing up the biscuits finely in a biggish bowl (I used the end of my rolling pin for this), and in a small pan gently melt the butter and sugar together. Pour the butter/sugar mixture into the biscuit crumbs and mix well.

Press the crumbs into a dish. (The recipe suggests a 20 cm loose-based tin, I used a 22 cm Pyrex pie dish.) Bake at 180 C for 20 mins or until firm.

Meanwhile, make the filling by gently heating the butter and syrup, stirring to combine. Remove from heat. Reserve the best 9 (or so) pecan halves for decoration and roughly chop the remaining nuts.

Pour the butter and syrup into the now vacant large bowl, add the eggs and pecan nuts and mix well. (Be aware that the eggs could scramble if butter/syrup is too hot and eggs are not mixed in briskly.)

Pour mixture into biscuit case and return pie to oven for 20 - 30 mins until slightly risen and set.

Arrange reserved pecans on the top and if you like, bake pie for a further 5 mins.

The cooked pie - delicious! And just as good the next night, too.

Ingredients:
Base:
225 g digestive or granita biscuits
75 g unsalted butter
50 g muscovado or soft brown sugar

Filling:
100 g unsalted butter
5 - 6 tbsp golden syrup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
100 g pecan nut halves

Pistachio Biscotti

I've always been impressed by people who can make their own almond bread or biscotti, and thought it would be really difficult to do. It's actually very easy, it just takes a little while because you cook them twice.

I followed a Bill Granger recipe, and supposedly they will last for a month in an airtight container - but I don't know how anyone ever manages to keep them that long. Oli helped me with the flour sieving and stirring.

First you beat eggs and caster sugar together for 3 mins with an electric hand-mixer, and sieve in flour. Mix in until almost combined, then stir in almonds and pistachios. Form into a dough with your hands, divide into two and on lightly floured board, make each half into a 15 to 20 cm loaf. Transfer to a baking sheet and flatten to 2 cm thick. Bake 20 cm until firm (see above) and cool completely.

When cool, cut into 7 mm-thick slices and bake at 120 C for 20 min, turning over once. Cool completely on wire rack.

Very easy to make, and the bit I thought would go wrong (cutting the loaves into slices) was no problem.

Ingredients:
150 g caster sugar
2 eggs
350 g plain flour
50 g shelled pistachios
50 g whole almonds

Two of the biscotti looked like little shocked faces - a bit like the biscuit version of the painting "The Scream"!