Palanquetas de Cacahuate

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting peanuts
• •Heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan with a thick base
• •Wooden spoon (do not use silicone, the syrup will scorch silicone before it scorches wood)
• •Stone metate, marble slab, or heavy granite cutting board
• •Sheet of parchment paper
• •Candy thermometer (optional but useful, hard crack is 300 to 310 degrees Fahrenheit)

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the peanuts

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium-low. Pour in the peanuts in a single layer. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the skins start to crack and the peanuts smell deeply nutty, almost roasted-coffee. The skins should darken but not blacken. The peanut is the dish, half the work happens here.

   Do not buy pre-roasted salted peanuts. They are oiled, salted, and already cooked. The piloncillo will not adhere properly and the salt balance will be wrong. Raw peanuts with the red skin on. Asi se hace y punto.
2. 2

   Prepare the slab

   While the peanuts toast, grease a metate, marble slab, or heavy stone cutting board with butter or lard. In Oaxaca the dulceros pour palanquetas directly onto a clean stone metate. The cold mass of the stone sets the brittle fast and gives it the right snap. A sheet of parchment over a metal pan works if no stone is at hand, but the texture is not the same.

3. 3

   Melt the piloncillo

   In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the chopped piloncillo, the water, the lime juice, and the cinnamon stick if using. Place over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until the piloncillo dissolves completely, about 5 minutes. Once dissolved, stop stirring. Stirring after this point seeds crystallization and you will end up with grainy palanqueta instead of glassy brittle.

4. 4

   Cook to hard crack

   Let the syrup boil steadily over medium heat for about 10 to 12 minutes. It will go from foamy and pale to deep mahogany, the color of a chile mulato. To test without a thermometer, drop a few drops into a glass of cold water. If the threads harden immediately and snap between your fingers, you are at hard crack. If they bend, keep going. The smoke point of piloncillo is close, so watch the color and pull the pot the moment the syrup darkens to that deep amber.

   Piloncillo behaves differently than refined sugar. It carries molasses already, so it darkens fast at the end. The last 30 seconds are the difference between palanqueta and burned candy. Stay at the stove.
5. 5

   Bind and pour

   Pull the cinnamon stick out and discard it. Off the heat, dump the toasted peanuts into the syrup all at once. Stir quickly with the wooden spoon, two or three turns, just until every peanut is coated in dark glaze. Do not stir more than that. Pour the mass immediately onto the greased stone in a thick rough rectangle. Speed matters. The syrup hardens in seconds.

6. 6

   Flatten and salt

   Lay a sheet of parchment over the top and press it flat with the back of a wooden spoon or a greased rolling pin. You want a layer about 1/4 inch thick, with peanuts visible across the whole surface. Peel back the parchment and scatter the flaky salt evenly across the top while the brittle is still tacky. The salt cuts the sweetness and makes the palanqueta taste the way it does at the dulcerias around the Zocalo of Oaxaca.

7. 7

   Cool and break

   Let the palanqueta cool completely on the slab, about 20 minutes. It will harden into a single sheet. Lift it off and break it into rough shards with the back of a heavy knife or your hands. The pieces should be uneven, that is the look. Store in an airtight tin lined with parchment. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Piloncillo varies by region and producer. The dark cones from Veracruz and Oaxaca have more molasses and give a deeper flavor. The pale ones from elsewhere will work but the palanqueta will taste flatter. If your only option is light piloncillo, add one tablespoon of dark muscovado to compensate. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The lime juice in the syrup is not for flavor. It inverts the sugar slightly and keeps the candy from crystallizing into grainy chunks. Do not skip it. One tablespoon for the whole batch, no more.
• •Humidity is the enemy of palanqueta. On a damp day the candy goes soft within hours. Store immediately in an airtight tin with a sheet of parchment between layers. In Oaxaca's dry valley climate this is rarely a problem. Elsewhere, plan accordingly.
• •If you want to add sesame seeds (ajonjoli), toast them on the comal alongside the peanuts and stir them in at the same moment. This is the version sold around the Templo de Santo Domingo. Some dulceros add a pinch of dried chile piquin powder. That is the version for adults.

Advance Preparation

• •Palanquetas keep for two weeks in an airtight tin at room temperature, longer if your kitchen is dry. They should be made the same day they are served if humidity is high.
• •Do not refrigerate. The cold pulls moisture into the candy and turns the surface tacky.
• •The toasted peanuts can be prepared up to two days ahead and stored in a sealed jar. The piloncillo syrup must be cooked and combined the same hour you serve, brittles cannot wait.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 28g)