Review: This Ina Garten Recipe Is the Ultimate Holiday Dessert (or Host Gift)

After reading the recipe, I realized its difficulty was mostly in its quick pacing, so I wanted to be prepared with a mise en place, so the caramel wouldn’t seize or burn by accident. I used a nonstick skillet to save myself the chore of cleaning a stainless steel pan and toasted the nuts. Easy-peasy so far.

The sugar started melting quickly. I stirred it occasionally until I thought it was fully melted (this took about six minutes, and IMO, it was a bit difficult to tell), then switched to swirling the pan—per Garten’s instructions—until it turned golden brown, about 12 minutes more. Garten noted not to worry if it seems like it’s crystallizing. I was worried once it looked there wasn’t enough water to accommodate the sugar, and it seemed that nearly all the syrupy liquid vanished beneath a sheet of dry sugar…but in the Contessa we trust, right?

I had to act fast to salvage what I could. First, I broke up the sheet of sugar on top, stirring and crushing finer bits into the quickly browning pool of caramel on the bottom. At the risk of burning it, I took the caramel off the heat, swirled in the vanilla, added the nuts and salt, and tossed to combine.

Time was of the essence because the caramel keeps cooking off the burner, so you don’t want it to melt or the nuts to stick to your pan. So, I quickly dumped them onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and split them into clusters with a fork. Finally, I finished them with fleur de sel and waited for them to cool. After about 10 minutes, they had chilled enough to break by hand.

These were *super* tasty…although I didn’t exactly nail the recipe. Due to my caramel mishap, my nuts-to-sugary-syrup ratio seemed a bit off. So, they weren’t as well coated as I wanted them to be, and there were bits of sugar studded throughout. In retrospect, I would have started with a bit more water, and I would have chilled with the swirling. The way the recipe reads, I thought Ina was telling me to swirl the pan more often or more vigorously than I had to; I’m thinking this made the water evaporate too quickly, leaving the sugar behind before it had time to liquify and caramelize.

However, the nut mixture is still balanced, irresistible and giftable. I appreciate that the caramel is dairy free (no butter or cream!) and that her recipe doesn’t call for fussing with a candy thermometer. Yes, you have to rely on visual cues and be prepared so as not to ruin the sugar mixture—take it from me—but if you’re on your game, it’s not unapproachably difficult. I’d certainly make it again.