Caramel Pecan Diamonds Food

PECAN CARAMELS ("GLORIAS")

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a medium nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add the condensed milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture turns to a light caramel color (240 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and incorporate the pecans. Let cool for about 8 minutes. Roll into 2-ounce pieces and wrap with parchment paper.

SALTED CARAMEL PECAN STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• Combine yeast, sugar, water and milk in a large bowl. Let sit until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Mix in butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in flour and Diamond Crystal® Kosher Salt and mix until dough comes together; you may need additional flour. Knead until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl; cover with a cloth and set in a warm place to rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Spray two 9-inch cake pans liberally with cooking spray.
• For the caramel sauce, combine 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup dark brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until sugar dissolves in the butter. Stir in the heavy cream and Diamond Crystal® Kosher Salt; mix well but do not bring to a boil. Sauce will be thick. Divide sauce equally into cake pans. Sprinkle equal amounts of pecans on top of caramel sauce.
• Divide dough into two equal portions and roll out each section into a rectangle approximately 14x6 inches.
• For the filling, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Brush melted butter evenly on each rectangle and sprinkle with brown sugar cinnamon mix. Starting with the longer side roll up each rectangle. Cut each roll into 9 equal portions. Place rolls into prepared cake pans and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake until browned and baked through, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Immediately (and carefully as sauce will be very hot) invert onto a plate. Serve warm.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL DIAMONDS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan and line bottom with wax paper.
• Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until combined well. Sift flour and cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into baking pan and bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on a rack and invert onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
• Chop chocolate. In a dry heavy saucepan cook sugar over moderate heat, without stirring, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook sugar, stirring with a fork, until a deep-golden caramel. Remove pan from heat and add cream (mixture will bubble up and steam). Simmer mixture, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, stirring until mixture is smooth. Pour ganache over top of cake and smooth with a spatula. Chill cake, uncovered, at least 30 minutes and, covered, up to 3 days.
• Lightly grease a baking sheet.
• In a dry small heavy saucepan cook sugar over moderately low heat, stirring slowly with a fork (to help sugar melt evenly), until a pale-golden caramel. Continue to cook caramel, without stirring, gently swirling pan, until golden. Remove pan from heat and pour caramel onto baking sheet. Cool caramel completely.
• Pry caramel from baking sheet with your fingers and in a food processor pulse caramel until coarsely ground. Sprinkle the ground caramel evenly over top of cake and with a sharp knife cut cake into 1 1/4-inch diamonds.

CARAMEL PECANS

Steps:

• Line a 13-in. x 9-in. pan with foil; grease the foil with 2 teaspoons butter and set aside., In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugars, corn syrup, 1 cup cream and the remaining butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil. Slowly stir in the remaining cream. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 245° (firm-ball stage)., Remove from the heat; stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan (do not scrape saucepan). Let stand until firm. Using foil, lift candy out of pan. Discard foil; cut candy into 1-in. squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper; twist ends.

CHEWY CARAMEL PECAN DIAMONDS

Steps:

• Set oven to 350 degrees.
• Line a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides; butter foil.
• In a food processor, blend the flour confectioner's sugar, cornstarch and salt for a couple of seconds.
• Add in 3/4 cup COld butter (cut into chunks); process until mixture begins to clump together.
• Press the dough evenly onto the bottom of the foil-lined baking pan.
• Bake until light and golden, about 25 minutes (don't overbake).
• Remove from oven; let stand while preparing the topping.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
• FOR TOPPING: stir the brown sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, until the sugar dissolves, and the mixture boils; boil for 1 minute.
• Add in the pecans and the whipping cream; boil until the mixture thickens slightly (about 3 minutes).
• Stir in vanilla.
• Pour over the warm baked crust.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until the topping is darker, and bubbles thickly.
• Transfer pan to a wire rack; cool completely in the pan (topping will harden).
• In a double boiler, melt the caramels with 2-3 tsp whipping cream.
• Drizzle over the top of the cooked nut topping; cool.
• Lift foil out of the pan onto a cutting board.
• Using a heavy, sharp knife, cut the crust with nut topping into 1-1/2 x 1-inch diamonds.
• These keep for up to 1 week.

CARAMEL-DIPPED PECANS

Steps:

• Gently insert an 8-inch wooden skewer into each pecan. Set aside.
• Prepare an ice bath, and set aside. Combine the sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to prevent sugar crystals from forming. Cook, without stirring, until the mixture begins to brown. Gently swirl the pan to color evenly. Remove from heat when caramel is a rich amber color, and place pan in ice bath for 5 seconds to stop the cooking.
• Allow caramel to sit, until slightly thickened, for about 15 minutes. (To test: Dip a wooden spoon into the caramel, and lift it several inches over the pan; if a drip slowly forms and then hardens, the caramel is ready.) When caramel is ready, dip pecans, lifting up and swirling slightly to fully coat. Hold skewer over the pan to allow the drip to lengthen and slightly harden, about 1 minute. If necessary, use a pair of scissors to cut the drip from the caramel remaining in the pan. Place skewers on an inverted baking sheet lined with waxed paper, and allow the caramel to completely harden, about 5 minutes. If desired, stand skewers upright in flower foam or a heavy container until ready to serve. Gently remove skewers before serving.

PECAN DIAMONDS

Steps:

• To prepare the dough, put the butter, sugar, shortening, egg yolks and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beat to blend well.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and fold this into the butter mixture. Shape into a soft ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
• Be advised that the pastry in this recipe may crack or fall slightly apart when it is transferred to a baking dish. If it does, it may be patched with the fingers.
• Have ready a rimmed baking dish measuring about 8 by 12 inches. Remove the ball of dough from the refrigerator and let it stand to soften briefly, about 10 to 15 minutes. Shape the dough by hand into a rectangle measuring about 4 by 8 inches.
• Lay out a length of clear plastic wrap on a flat baking sheet and place the dough in the center. Cover with a second length of clear plastic wrap and roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring about 8 by 12 inches. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap. Invert the baking dish over the dough and quickly turn both the baking dish and the dough, letting the dough fall into the dish to cover the bottom of it. If the dough breaks or falls apart, it may be patched with the fingers with bits of dough.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork.
• Bake the dough for 10 minutes. Let it cool while you prepare the filling. Let the heat in the oven remain constant at 350 degrees.
• To prepare the filling, combine the butter, honey, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook, stirring, exactly three minutes.
• Remove from the heat and let cool. Fold in the pecans and stir in the cream. Blend well and immediately pour onto the baked crust. Spread evenly over the crust. It is advisable to cover the bottom of the oven with aluminum foil to catch any drippings. Place in the oven and bake 35 minutes. Let cool completely. Run a knife around the outside edge of the candy. It may be unmolded. Cut the candy into diamond shapes.

PECAN DIAMONDS

Steps:

• For the crust:.
• Combine flour, baking powder& salt, set aside.
• Cream butter,sugar and shortening until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
• Add dry ingredients, stirring until dough forms a ball.
• Wrap dough and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Between 2 sheets of waxed paper roll the dough into a 15x10 inch rectangle 1/8 inch thick.
• Remove top sheet of waxed paper and invert onto a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan.
• Remove remaining wax paper and if necessary, patch the dough.
• Prick the dough liberally with a fork to prevent shrinkage during baking, and bake 10 minutes (DO NOT BROWN).
• Cool completely and reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• For the Filling:.
• In a large saucepan combine butter, honey,and both sugars and bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Stir in nuts and mix thoroughly.
• Stir in cream and mix thoroughly.
• Set cooled partially baked crust into a pan of the same size (this is necessary to prevent burning of the crust while topping caramelizes).
• CAREFULLY spread pecan mixture over partially baked crust (mixture will be extremely hot and can severly burn you).
• Bake 35 minutes in 350F oven.
• Cool completely in pans on wire rack.
• Once cool cut crosswise into 1 1/2 inch stips, then cut diagonally at 2 inch intervals to form diamonds.
• **It is recommended that you do not use dark coated baking pans for this recipe.
• If you must, shorten baking time by at least 10 minutes.