Grandma Rankin's Cashew Brittle

I had to throw the first batch of this candy in the trash. The instructions said to cook over high heat -- without stirring -- sugar, corn syrup, butter and water -- until the mixture was a "dark amber". So I did --and the surface was a pale yellow and smelling burnt when I took it off the heat to add the other ingredients. At which point I saw that below the surface the mixture was a VERY dark amber. Too late -- definitely burnt.

Another batch this morning was undercooked by about a minute (my fault this time -- probably gunshy about overcooking again) -- and the resulting candy is definitely edible, and slightly too soft to really be thought of as brittle, and VERY VERY sweet. Of course the last is true of most brittles.

I wish the recipe would simply have given a temp to watch for on a candy thermometer in addition to the visual cue ("dark amber").

I am going to keep trying to nail this one and when I do, I am going to try the pink peppercorn variation mentioned on the same page. Something about the sound of that one appeals to me.