Friday, April 3, 2009

Chocolate Coffee Clusters YUM!

Sweet coffee, candy and nut clusters, covered in chocolate. Not a recipe for the novice candy maker. You won't regret the effort, though. These crunchy nutty treats are better than cookies.

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup strong coffee
4 lbs chocolate, chopped
1/4 tsp salt

Preparation:Butter a 2-quart saucepan. Combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and coffee. Cook on high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. Stir constantly. Cook to hard ball stage without stirring. Remove from heat. In a large chilled bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks stage. Pour the hot syrup into the egg whites (slowly!) while beating at high speed. Once the syrup is added, continue beating until you get soft peaks. Add nuts and beat for another 5 minutes. Let cool down, then cover and put in the freezer. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Line several cookie sheets with waxed paper. Remove the other bowl from the freezer. Spoon out a teaspoon of the cold mixture and drop in the melted chocolate. Scoop out and place on the waxed paper. Repeat. When the mixture is used up, you can store the remaining chocolate for another use. Let the candies cool and harden, then store in the refrigerator.

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