Chinese Five Spice Honey Snaps

This months Sugar High Friday is being hosted by Amrita at La Petite Boulangette. She has chosen the theme Asian Sweet Invasion, in which we are to introduce an Asian aspect to an otherwise non-Asian dessert. Upon reading the challenge I immediately thought of Chinese five spice powder, the all flavor encompassing spice blend of Chinese antiquity. The blend is classically a mixture of Sichuan pepper, star anise, fennel seed, cassia and clove. The origins of this particular mixture are not known, but it’s said that it may have been created to represent all five of the flavor elements: sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty. In Chinese medicine these five flavors each correspond to the five natural elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water, respectively. The five elements also correspond to different seasons, colors, bodily functions, emotions, sense organs, tissues, developmental stages and I could go on… It is highly emphasized that one should strive to keep the five elements in harmony. This, I believe, is why Chinese five spice powder is formulated the way it is, to aid by way of food in keeping elemental harmony.

Chinese five spice powder is quite good and is used in many a preparations. From slowly braised meats to stir frys to, in my case, honey snaps. Yes, honey snaps. And for my first entry to Sugar High Fridays, I offer Chinese Five Spice Honey Snaps.

The honey snaps are from Alice Medrich’s awesome book, Pure Dessert. I’ve been eyeing this recipe for quite some time and when I went looking for something that would pair well with Chinese five spice powder I decided that this would just have to be it. The recipe calls for the use of ¼ teaspoon either ground ginger or cinnamon so I simply swapped it out for my powder. The snaps are enormously simple to make and they taste wonderful. The Chinese five spice powder lends itself as a very mild flavor element. Most of the flavor in these snaps comes from the honey and butter, so use quality ingredients. You have got to be ready to give them your full attention; once you begin you’re in constant motion until the last snap has been put to rest. The nice thing is that from scaling ingredients to that last snap is only about 20 minutes. Be sure the oven is properly preheated and your pans properly buttered before you begin.

Make a small batch of Chinese five spice powder and keep it sealed in your cupboard for future dishes or for dipping fleshy fruit.

Chinese Five Spice Powder

If you can get Chinese Sichuan pepper, toast it alone in a dry pan until fragrant. If you can only get Sichuan pepper that isn’t Chinese, don’t toast it. Cassia is a different name for what we call cinnamon. Try to use whole spices, the flavors will be lively if you do, and a little dull if you use pre-ground stuff. I generally use this ratio by volume for my powder, but feel free to experiment with amounts, there’s no set rule for this stuff.

1 part Sichuan pepper

1 part star anise

1 part fennel seed

1 part cassia (cinnamon)

½ part cloves

If you’ve got Chinese Sichuan then toast it and let it cool. Grind each spice finely and mix. Store in a sealed container in a dark spot or a few months or until the smell becomes dull.

Chinese Five Spice Honey Snaps

Adapted from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

57 grams (4 Tbs) unsalted butter

96 grams (3 Tbs) honey

55 grams (¼ cup) sugar

¼ tsp Chinese five spice powder

57 grams (½ cup) all purpose flour, sifted before measuring

2 pinches of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter four baking sheets if you’ve got that many. If not you just won’t be able to drop all the batter before baking, which is okay, you’ll just have to work a little quicker to switch out baking sheets.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter, honey, sugar and spice powder over low heat, until the butter is melted. Remove the pan from heat and stir in flour and salt. Mix well.

Drop 6 teaspoons of batter onto each baking sheet, allowing planty of room for spreading. Place one sheet at a time in the oven and bake until they are golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. While they are baking, butter the handle of a wooden spoon.

When the first batch is done, take it out and immediately replace it with the next batch. Allow to cool for about 15-20 seconds, then lift one with a metal spatula onto the wooden spoon handle (or on a cooling rack if you don’t want to curl them). Lay the hot snap on the spoon handle and let it hang down. Fit as many as you can on the handle and let them stay there until they firm up, about a minute. Repeat for all 6 snaps of the first batch. If they harden before you can roll them, return the baking sheet to the oven for a few seconds to allow them to soften up. Do not bake more than 6 at a time or you won’t be able to keep up. Cool completely.

Note: Even a little too much flour may result in a thick and tough, rather than thin and crisp snap. Use a scale if you can.