Cooking With Gourmet Coffee

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp espresso beans, crushed with a rolling pin or
chopped in a food processor to medium-fine crumbs
1 oz. (2 Tbs.) butter
Pinch salt

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment and spray
the parchment with nonstick cooking spray or grease it lightly.

In a medium heavy-based saucepan, combine the sugar and water.
Heat over high heat, swirling the pot occasionally (don’t stir it) for
even color, until it turns light amber. Add the crushed espresso
beans (don’t worry if the sugar seems to foam), swirl them around
in the caramel, and continue to cook until the caramel turns brown.
Remove the pan from the heat.

Carefully whisk in the butter and salt (the butter will sputter).
Immediately pour the brittle onto the prepared baking sheet, quickly
tilting the baking sheet to get the brittle to flow into a thin layer
(be careful — the brittle is very hot). As it cools and slows down, use a
metal spatula to spread it into an even thinner layer. Let cool.
Chop two-thirds of the cooled brittle into small pieces by sealing it in
a plastic bag and smashing it with a mallet or rolling pin. Sift the
crumbs in a strainer if you don’t want the powder. Break the remaining
brittle into shards and use them to garnish bowls of the ice cream.

Yield: about 1 cup