So one of my favorite treats during the holiday season is English toffee. I had a professor who would bring some in to her class if she had leftovers from her annual gift giving. I’m here to tell you, that stuff lasted MAYBE an hour once word got out in the department. I would check her room daily between Thanksgiving and finals just to see if that magical sugary treat had made its appearance. Well, since my mixer bit the big one, and I don’t have a new one yet, I decided to look at what I wanted to make and thought, what the heck…why not try to make my own English toffee?
I searched the internet for a recipe, and they all seemed pretty similar, but I found one that said “easy” and “old-fashioned” in the title, and thought…that’s the one! So, I looked at Saving Dessert’s recipe and though I used all butter, rather than butter and margarine, I stayed as faithful to the recipe as I could. I actually discovered we had a functional candy thermometer, which I immediately put to use with the sugar stuff.
I was really nervous, because sugar can be notoriously hinky to work with, but it seemed to be going really well…all bubbly and frothy…but white, so white. Where was the caramel color? Of course, I was also worried that it would go from white to burnt faster than I could say toffee, but nothing was happening. Finally, after it reached hard crack temperature, the color started turning a light amber. I let it get darker until I chickened out, and if I’m completely honest, I probably chickened out too early…but it was not burnt!
Okay, so mistake #2: I used the wrong size sheet pan. Do I really care? Yeah, actually it bugs me a little, but it’s fine. Judging when to put the chocolate chips on the toffee was a little tough, especially since it was supposed to be when the stuff was just set but still really hot, so touching was not a brilliant idea. I think I guessed okay, the chocolate chips melted and spread, and I don’t think they messed up the toffee stuff. I then sprinkled everything with ground almonds, and popped the whole thing in the fridge to cool and set.
I could not wait to see what amazing stuff was waiting in the fridge when I got back from picking up my son from school. He was less enthused, but that was because it wasn’t cookies. (Sorry dude!) So I read the instructions, and it said “break into bite sized pieces.” Absolutely. Sure. Um…how? I picked it up by one corner, and tried to brute force the sucker, but all I got was chocolate melting all over my hands. So, my solution? I bashed that sucker with the back of a spoon. If I lifted an edge, it worked really pretty well. I have no idea how you’re SUPPOSED to do it, but I like my method, so there! And look – I made English toffee, and it is buttery, crunchy, sweet, and exactly what I was hoping for. Yay!! I don’t know if it’s truly old fashioned, but it really was easy to make, and took me maybe 45 minutes to make, including gathering the ingredients. Toffee is a fabulous and quick treat that makes amazing gifts for the holidays.
