Topic: Crickl's Recipes
I did a bad thing one Christmas. Not thinking it was a bad thing at all when I began, it turned into a holiday obsession that I will never be rid of....While reading a ladies’ magazine with cute decoration ideas and recipes for the holidays, I came across a recipe for English Toffee. I was newly married and on a strict budget….we were both seminary students and as poor as dirt. As a teen and college student, I had my own tradition of getting a can of Almond Roca for my family for Christmas. The candy is not expensive, but I knew making it from scratch from very simple ingredients would be cheaper, I could make some for each family member and it would be more special.
Little did I know that 22 years later, my family and friends await that toffee every year, like crazed addicts! Some of them even keep the jar or tin I gave it to them in and hand it back to me the following year.
“So you won’t have to buy so many this year WHEN you make the toffee.”
Uh huh…..
So I am going to share the recipe with you, but I will include this warning: you may not ever be able to stop making it once you’ve dabbled in it. So beware!!
I am including all the tips and tricks I have learned from making toffee every Christmas for 22 years. It is not complicated, but trust me, the tips are tried and true! One tip is that you cannot make a decent batch of toffee if you live in a high elevation area! Don’t even try it. When we lived in the mountains of Arizona, I had to make the toffee on trips to Phoenix or when we went to visit my husband’s family in Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. They don’t take elevation as a valid excuse. I must make the toffee.
First is a very detailed explanation of candy making. Please do read it all if you are going to attempt it. It is not hard, but it does need to be done correctly and in a very timely way. At the end are very concise instructions so it’s easier to read them as you are making the candy. I put the basic recipe, including ingredients all in bold in case you want to copy just those into a recipe card.
Enjoy! (but beware!)
Materials needed:
-Heavy bottomed saucepan of medium size
-A wooden spoon or spoon made for cooking candy and stirring constantly at very high heat. The type of spoon that works best is one with a flat end, so you can scrap the bottom of the pan constantly. After several batches of toffee, the wooden one with crack but it still works best.
-A candy thermometer. I brake candy thermometers that are made of glass, so I tend to use my plain old meat thermometer most. It works fine, but make sure you don’t hold it to the bottom of the pan. Try to suspend it in the candy so you get an accurate reading. The trick is holding it there while constantly stirring, so clip it on the side of the pan and kind of tip it so it’s not hitting the bottom of the pan while taking the temperature.
-Metal cookie sheet. Metal cools much more quickly than a stone or glass one. Spray the sheet with cooking spray very lightly. The toffee will not run over the sides of the sheet if it is a regular sized one, so it’s ok to used one without edges.
****Children should not be under foot while making candy. Should it spill or bubble and splatter, it will cause very severe burns!****
English Toffee
Makes 1 pound
1 cup butter (do not use margarine)
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla (splurge and get the really good kind from Trader Joes)
1 Hershey bar
3/4 cup chopped nuts (if desired) pecans or almonds taste best
To prepare for quick steps when toffee is cooked, have these things ready before cooking ingredients:
-Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and set it on a dish towel on the counter. (the dish towel protects your counter from being scorched)
-Open the wrapper of the Hershey bar and break each square apart, ready to top your toffee. You can also use ? to a full cup of chocolate chips.
-Prepare your nuts for topping if you use them. Chop finely or bash them to bits in a ziplok bag with a coffee mug or rolling pin…..as finely chopped as you can.
Cooking:
Put butter, sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Cook on medium heat (or just a little higher, but be careful not to used too high of heat or you can scorch it and ruin the batch) until mixture reaches 300?, stirring constantly. (this is where it gets tedious as you stir….it usually takes about half an hour to get it to hard crack stage…300?).
As toffee cooks, it will turn from yellow and bubbly to thick caramel color, which is when you want to put the thermometer in. Move the thermometer periodically to prevent scorching in that spot. Never (EVER) stop stirring….it WILL scorch very easily. Let the answering machine get the phone, let the baby cry, let the dog piddle on the carpet, just don’t let the toffee burn! =)
When it reaches 300?, turn heat off and remove pan from burner, then quickly stir in vanilla. It will splatter a little, so take care. I hold the pan over the sink while adding vanilla.
Pour immediately into sprayed cookie sheet. It will at once begin to harden, so do not try to spread it out. Let it flow where it will.
Putting the hot pan in the sink or back on the stove is all the time it needs to harden enough to begin laying the chocolate squares onto the hot toffee. It will begin to melt immediately, so begin spreading it to cover the top with a spatula.
Lick spatula as to not be wasteful of any chocolate. I may point out here that you should NOT, EVER, under any circumstances (!!!!) lick the spoon you just stirred toffee with. You will not have skin on the roof of your mouth for a week. Please don’t ask me how I know that.
While chocolate is still soft, sprinkle surface with finely bashed nuts and enjoy how pretty it all is! After it cools completely, lift edges of toffee and randomly break it into appropriately sized pieces. Any inappropriate sized pieces may be eaten by the cook at his/her discretion.
Place into air-tight containers which you can decorate if you wish and enjoy a job well done and accolades as plentiful as the sand of the sea!
Okay, now that you have read the way too detailed instructions, here they are in simple form that is easier to read.
Basic instructions (with no snarky details):
Put butter, sugar and water into saucepan on medium heat and stir constantly until mixture reaches 300?.
Turn off heat, stir in vanilla, and pour onto greased cookie sheet.
Lay broken chocolate bar on top, spread as they melt, sprinkle with nuts, cool thoroughly.
Break into pieces and store in air-tight containers.
Makes 1 pound of delicious candy!
