Garlic Rosemary Pine Nut Brittle | Dinner at Eight

If you read the title and were instantly perplexed, this IS a garlic dessert. Yes sticky, smelly, sweet garlic and it is wonderful. I was too was skeptical of  garlic in a dessert, but when the Dinner at Eight ladies asked me if I would like to take care of dessert for their garlic themed Southern dinner last month, I was excited by the challenge of creating an appetizing garlic dessert.

Garlic rosemary pine nut brittle is super simple to make. There are only five ingredients and it takes less than 20 minutes to complete. In no time you too can be snacking on this addictively delicious garlic brittle.  Seriously, it is deliriously addictive. The toasty caramel notes of the brittle marry perfectly with the sticky toffee sweetness of the garlic. The pine nuts add great texture and the earthy floral essence of the rosemary help to balance the pungent garlic aroma. This brittle is more on the savory side, but paired with a honey garlic mouse you have the perfect duo of sweet and savory. It is so good I had to share this recipe and I encourage you to make it.

Garlic dessert. I never thought I would ever make it. I never thought I would enjoy it so much!

If you are not familiar with Dinner at Eight check it out and join us for the next dinner!

Garlic Rosemary Pine Nut Brittle

2 ½ cups pine nuts

2 cups of sugar

1 stick of butter

1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary

½ tbsp sea salt

1 clove garlic thinly sliced

Place sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar begins to melt. Once sugar is melted allow to cooked for 10 minutes or until it becomes a caramel color.

Stir in pine nuts and butter. Continue to stir until butter is fully melted. Add thin garlic slices.

Turn mixture onto parchment lined sheet pan and spread out to desired thickness. Sprinkle rosemary and sea salt over the top once the mixture is spread.

Allow to cook completely for at least 1 hour. Break into brittle pieces once cooled.

* Optional: rather than add thin slices of garlic you can choose to take the whole garlic clove and rub it over the cooled and hardened brittle. It will have the same garlic kick without the difficult slicing involved.

For the Honey Garlic Mousse I used this lovely recipe: http://www.tastingmenu.com/2007/04/09/recipe-honey-mousse/