Chocolate Bark (Christmukkah Crack)

In 1985, Marcy Goldman created Matzoh Buttercrunch, a Passover confection that took the country by storm, and it remains the most popular holiday recipe. Marcy was inspired by a recipe much like this Chocolate Bark, though this recipe -- from the collection of Olive Facey -- is even simpler (and less caloric) than the modern day incarnation. But is just as easy and delicious. And infinitely more convenient, i.e., not everyone has matzoh year-round.

Chocolate Bark is simply a sugar-butter mixture poured over Saltine crackers, topped with chocolate and baked. Adding toasted nuts is optional. It takes just a few minutes to make.

Marcy substituted matzoh for the Saltines, as they can't be eaten on Passover. But following Olive's card, I used old-fashioned saltines.

To begin, line a cookie sheet with foil and then Saltines. You will probably need to break some to fill in all the spaces.

Next, melt a stick of butter over a low flame.

Add the sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves and it looks like this. 

Pour it over the crackers covering them as best you can.

Take the back of a spoon, knife or offset spatula to evenly spread, trying to cover every cracker.

Sprinkle chocolate chips atop the mixture. The amount is up to you. Place in a preheated 350F oven.

Bake for ten to 15 minutes. The chocolate chips won't be completely melted, so spread them with the same tool used to spread the sugar mixture. I even added more chocolate at this point, as I thought the layer was  bit too thin.  The chips will melt.

Sprinkle the top with chopped nuts. I used pecans, which I toasted in the oven while the bark was baking.

 Refrigerate until cold, then break up the pieces with your hands.

Unscientific observational differences between Chocolate Bark and Matzoh Buttercrunch: The buttercrunch has a much firmer base, as matzoh is not as soft as Saltines, but the salted crackers added a nice flavor note. Buttercrunch uses brown sugar, which adds a depth of flavor lacking in white sugar (but if you cook the mixture longer, that issue would be mitigated, as it would become more caramel-y), and it also uses double the butter, making it more caloric. Having said all that, upon sampling the bark this morning, the DH declared: This tastes exactly like matzoh buttercrunch!

Below is Olive's recipe card -- part of her collection generously given to me by her handsome son Stephen.  It appears to have been shared with her by Lorraine Allison.

Production notes: I followed this almost exactly, but I cooked the butter sugar mixture (which is not indicated on the card).  I used a 9 x 13 inch cookie sheet, and about 3/4 cups of chocolate chips. I baked it for 15 minutes.

Opera Creams

Candy making is a lost art, but that wasn't the case in the early 1900s when candy (think fudge, divinity, toffee) was commonly made in home kitchens. This is another recipe from the collection of Mrs. W.L. Honsinger who lived in rural Vermont at the turn of the 20th century, and probably found that making candy at home was easier than getting to a store that sold it. Plus, homemade candy then, as now, is much more economical.

This candy is pretty good, and very, very sweet. The centers are very temperamental, and I may have overcooked the sugar syrup so they were less creamy than desired. Still, I had no complaints from my tasters.

Start by boiling the milk, sugar and cream of tarter until the mixture reaches 235 degrees.

Let it cool for 20 minutes and add the vanilla.

For ease of beating, I transferred the mixture to a bowl.

Forming the candy was easy, even though it was a bit too crumbly from overcooking the syrup.

You can get fancy with the chocolate coating (tempering the chocolate, etc.) but I just melted a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips in a double boiler.

The recipe is below, and below that I wrote out clearer instructions. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test the syrup in a glass of cold water (it should form a soft ball when a small spoonful is placed there, but I never found that method reliable).

Opera Creams

2 c sugar
2/3 c milk
1/4 t. cream of tartar
1 t. vanilla

Semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

Combine sugar, milk and cream of tarter in a two-quart saucepan. Boil gently, stirring frequently until it reaches 235 to 240 on a candy thermometer.
Set aside for 20 minutes and add vanilla.
Beat until soft and creamy. (You can transfer the mixture into a round bowl for this step.)
Form small balls (using your hands) and chill.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
Using a fork, dip the candy, coating completely.
Set aside until the chocolate hardens.

Molasses-on-Snow (Day) Candy

The candy is translucent when held to the light.

Fresh snow, like the 20 +  inches that just landed on New York City, can conjure up images of sledding, shoveling and snow angels.
But for me, it means just one thing: A rare opportunity to make Molasses-on-Snow candy, a delicious treat whose essential ingredient is fresh, virginal snow.  This candy, made popular by the Little House on the Prairie books, is a lot of fun to make, especially if you have a couple of young children around to watch the magic.

Pie pan filled with virginal snow.

Subway service is suspended and our street is still not plowed (can anyone say snow day?), so I ventured outdoors this morning to fill two pie pans with snow.

Two of the candy's three ingredients: molasses and brown sugar mixed together.

Next, I mixed 1/2 cup molasses and1/4 cup brown sugar together in a medium saucepan, turned on the fire and let it cook until it reached 245 F.  (If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can drop a small amount of the syrup into a glass of cold water.  When it forms a firm ball in the water, it's done.)

Stir often to prevent burning.

Once the mixture reaches the right temperature, retrieve the pie pans of snow (which you've either kept outdoors or in the freezer) and transfer the candy mixture to a glass measuring cup.

Pour the candy syrup on the snow in any pattern you wish.

Pour the hot candy syrup over the fresh snow in any pattern you wish.  Let it set for a few minutes until the candy hardens.  Remove from the snow, break into bite size pieces and praise the snowfall.

Candy as modern art.

Laura and Mary (illustrated by Garth Williams) from the Little House Cookbook (from which this recipe is adapted. 

Macadamia Nut Toffee - The Crack of Christmas Candy

I'm taking a short break from vintage recipes to bring you a collection of tried and true holiday treats while there's still time to make these.

First up is macadamia nut toffee, the most addicting candy ever.  Is there anything more delicious than the buttery flavor of macadamia nuts, especially when they're embedded in a dark, caramel flavored toffee?

These treats only have four ingredients -- heavy cream, sugar, nuts and corn syrup -- and they do seem like so much more than the sum of their parts.  Get our your candy thermometers and create!

Macadamia Nut Toffee
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 2/3 c. sugar
2 3/4 c. macadamia nuts, crushed (freeze them first and hammer them)

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or, if you have a marble slab, oil it lightly with neutral vegetable oil. Have a sheet of parchment and a rolling pin standing by.

Stirring the candy.  Don't be tempted to turn up the heat, even if it takes a long time to reach 284 F.

Combine the first three ingredients in a heavy saucepan large enough to hold four times the volume of these ingredients (otherwise it will boil over).  Bring to a boil over slightly hotter than medium heat while stirring to dissolve the sugar.Continue boiling without stirring until the mixture turns a pale golden color, and from this point give it your undivided attention.  Stick the candy thermometer in the pan.  Using a wooden spoon with a flat edge, stir occasionally at first and then constantly as the temperature approaches 260 F. Keep boiling and stirring until it reaches 284 F.

Rolling out the candy.  It stiffens up quickly, so you have to work fast.

Turn off the fire and dump the nuts into the pan, stirring vigorously as the mixture will stiffen quickly.  When well combined (gotta work fast), dump the whole mass onto the prepared cookie sheet or marble slab.  Place the sheet of parchment over the toffee and roll it out with the rolling pin til it's about 3/8 inch thick.  Let cool completely and break into irregular shapes.  Store in an airtight container, well hidden, lest the Christmas candy crack addicts discover them and they all disappear.

The sheet of candy, cooling on the marble slab.