On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 05:35:09 GMT, "Adam Schwartz"
> wrote:


> The other day I was attempting to make walnut brittle to accompany the
>maple-walnut bûche de noël in this month's Gourmet magazine. The recipe
>instructed me to heat 1 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup water in a heavy saucepan
>over moderately low heat until the sugar was cooked. I tried five times,

Don't stir and use a very clean, flat pan free of any defects. You
can also try the dry method - no water at all. This allows faster
borwning of the caramel and less tendency for crystalization.

-sw