Smoked Almond Caramels Recipes

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat the oven to 325 F. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix almond paste and butter on low speed, 1 minute. Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a small bowl. Turn mixer up to medium and add the eggs one at a time to the almond paste mixture. Allow each egg to completely incorporate into the batter, about 30 seconds, before adding the next one; this will ensure a smooth batter. Slowly add flour and continue mixing just to incorporate, 10-15 seconds.
• Prepare a springform pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper and spray the parchment paper (this will prevent the cake from sticking). Pour batter into the pan, spreading it evenly across the bottom. Parbake until lightly golden, 10 minutes.
• Caramel topping: While cake is in the oven, add ½ cup cream, sugar, glucose, and butter to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook undisturbed until caramel is light brown and registers 244 F on a kitchen thermometer, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in almonds to combine. As you stir, avoid scraping up any browned caramel that may be sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• Remove cake from the oven; it will be gooey and not fully cooked. Carefully pour the warm caramel onto the cake; spread evenly. Return to the oven; bake until the caramel is golden brown and bubbly, 10 minutes.
• Remove cake from oven and let cool, 10-15 minutes. The top will firm up as it cools. Remove cake from pan by running a knife around the edge, then remove the sides from the base. (Keep the cake on the base for serving.) While the cake is cooling, whip cream for serving: Place remaining 1 cup heavy cream in a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form, 30 seconds. Slice cooled cake into wedges and serve with whipped cream.

Steps:

• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and grease generously with the spray. Generously spray a large bowl and all but the handle part of a large spoon or rubber spatula.
• Combine the popcorn, salt and oil in a large deep pot with a lid and stir to coat the kernels in oil. Place the pot over moderately high heat, cover with a lid and cook, shaking the pot frequently to redistribute the kernels. Cook until all the kernels have popped, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the popcorn to the large prepared bowl, discarding any un-popped kernels.
• Combine 1/4 cup water, the sugar and corn syrup in a large deep pot over moderately high heat and stir to combine. Cook, undisturbed, until the mixture develops a light amber color, about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, add the butter and baking soda and stir continuously to melt the butter and combine the ingredients, about 20 seconds. Working quickly, pour the sugar mixture (caramel) over the popcorn, and add the almonds, cashews and chocolate, if using. Use the prepared spoon to stir everything together, trying to evenly coat the popcorn and nuts in caramel. Sprinkle with sea salt. Break the caramel corn into smaller, bite-size pieces and serve.

Steps:

• For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 baking sheets.
• Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer equipped with the paddle attachment-the one that looks like the peace sign-and beat until creamy and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the egg yolks and almond extract and beat for another minute or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
• In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped almonds.
• Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. When combined, the dough should be soft and homogeneous. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until firm.
• When you're ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it into 3/4-inch balls. Place the balls about 1 inch apart on a prepared baking sheet. Using the tip of your thumb, make a hole as deep as you can in each doughball without actually poking through the bottom. Roll your thumb around a little bit to widen the hole-this is your thumbprint!
• Bake the cookies for 16 to 18 minutes or until they begin to turn golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool. While the cookies are cooling, repoke each one with your thumb to create a really nice spot for the caramel. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• For the caramel: In a medium saute pan, combine the sugar, lemon juice, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. Bring the pan to medium-high heat. Be careful not to swish the pan around as that can cause the sugar to recrystallize. As the mixture boils, the water will evaporate and the sugar will begin to turn brown, or "caramelize." This is the point when you DO NOT want to take your eyes off it! Things can take a turn for the worse here and there will be no recovery. As the sugar begins to turn gold and move toward golden brown, remove it from the heat and add the heavy cream. As you do this it will bubble up like crazy. Be sure to use a pan large enough to accommodate the bubbling-this stuff is molten and can cause a very severe burn. Whisk the cream until things settle down and the bubbles subside, then add the butter 2 pats at a time, making sure each addition is thoroughly incorporated before adding more.
• Let the caramel cool slightly, then spoon it into the hole of each cookie and let cool. You'll most likely have leftover caramel sauce, so save it for something yummy-like pouring over vanilla ice cream!

Steps:

• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and grease generously with nonstick vegetable-oil spray. Generously spray a large bowl and all but the handle part of a large spoon or rubber spatula.
• In a large deep pot with a lid, combine the popcorn kernels, oil, and salt and stir to coat the kernels in oil. Place the pot over moderately high heat, cover with a lid, and cook, shaking the pot frequently to redistribute the kernels, until all the kernels have popped, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the popped popcorn to the large prepared bowl, discarding any unpopped kernels. DO AHEAD: The popcorn can be popped in advance and stored, in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 3 days.
• In a large deep pot over moderately high heat, combine the corn syrup, sugar, and 1/4 cup water and stir to combine. Cook, undisturbed, until the mixture develops a light amber color, about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, add the baking soda and butter, and stir continuously to melt the butter and combine the ingredients, about 20 seconds. (The mixture will be very hot and will foam up at this point-continuous stirring will help the foaming subside.) Working quickly, pour the caramel over the popcorn and add the almonds, then use the prepared spoon or rubber spatula to stir everything together, trying to evenly coat the popcorn and nuts in caramel. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spreading out the caramel corn as much as possible. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and let cool and harden for about 20 minutes. Break the caramel corn into smaller, bite-size pieces and serve. DO AHEAD: Caramel corn can be prepared in advance and stored, in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 3 days.

Steps:

• In a bowl, whisk egg white until foamy. Add garlic powder, celery salt, salt and liquid smoke; stir until blended. Add almonds and stir until well coated. Evenly spread almonds in a 15x10x1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. , Bake at 300° for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Cool. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Pour cooking oil over almonds in bowl.
• Toss to coat well.
• Spread on ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake in 275 degree oven for 45 minutes.
• Remove from oven.
• Pour nuts into medium bowl.
• Sprinkle with liquid smoke.
• Toss to coat well.
• Mix flour and salt in cup.
• Sprinkle over almonds.
• Toss to coat well.
• Spread on same baking sheet.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Cool.