Brazilian Peanut Candy (Paçoca)

June is the month we celebrate the June Festival in Brazil.

I present below a typical dish of this festival, much loved by the Brazilian people. This recipe was an adaptation of this one.

Paçoca Recipe

Yield: approximately 7 rectangular paçocas Difficulty: medium Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

250g roasted unsalted peanuts (approx. 2 cups) 130g brown sugar cane or "panela" (approx. 1 cup) 1 pinch of salt 70ml water (approx. 1/3 cup) 1/2 tsp crushed fennel seeds(optional)

Directions

1. With a sharp knife, cut the brown sugar cane into small pieces;

2. Grind the peanuts in a blender until you get a thick flour. Do not let it to became a butter;

3. Take brown sugar cane for low heat with water and salt and stir occasionally until it to be in like a syrup. Be careful with this step, do not let it dry too much;

4. Add the peanuts and crushed fennel to the pan with the brown sugar and stir a bit until the dough is smooth;

5. Remove from the fire and immediately place on a baking sheet or on a table with a mold and smooth the dough, leaving the thickness you want;

6. With the dough still hot, mark the cut lines;

7. When the dough is hard, cut it. It's ready!

Tips

1. The only thing that can go wrong in this recipe is the time to put the peanuts. If the sugar and water are too liquid, the paçoca will be soft. If you pass the point, it will become dry. But unless you burn you can eat it.

2. I made my paçocas on the back of a baking sheet, forming a large rectangle with a knife and a spatula, then cutted it. It is a suggestion;

3. Watch the video of Mr. José to facilitate the understanding.