Toffee, its Amazing!!!
Toffee is one of my favorite types of candy both as a kid and now as an adult. I mean, its butter and sugar, the building blocks of any good dessert. I found this recipe while browsing cook books at my favorite used bookstore where I had initially stopped in to browse their selection of books on existentialism but got sidetracked with dessert recipes. Ultimately I ended up buying a copy of “The Stranger” by Albert Camus and I did read it. Leave a comment if you’d like to discuss the themes of the book and what I thought of it.
Now on to the toffee! Unlike caramel, butter is melted in the pan first before adding the sugar in. Having never made this before and just having watched caramel week on the great british bakeoff, I thought toffee was just caramel you cooked a bit longer. I didn’t realize Paul’s comments about overdone caramel being toffee was him trying to be polite but here we are.
Words of advice
When making the toffee; add the sugars, honey and water in when the butter is halfway melted in the pan. I’m not sure why it matters. Other recipes have you chuck everything in all at once and boil it until it reaches anywhere from 140 to 150 Celsius. The recipe below tasted delicious when I made it so I’d recommend you do the same. I’m also comparing it to a heath bar, Skor bar, and the pistachio toffee from TJ’s so take the “most delicious” title how you want.
Grease your 9×13 pan before you start making the toffee. There’s nothing worse than burning your toffee and having to start over because you forgot to grease your pan. Similarly, trying to multitask while the toffee is cooking is a risky game.
More words of advice
This is one of the recipes where I would actually recommend assembling all of your ingredients ahead of time. Timing is key here so you don’t want to be measuring ingredients right before you need them. Any other time I’d say you can roast and chop your almonds and chocolate while the toffee is cooking. But the difference between delicious and burned is pretty small so pay close attention when your toffee is cooking.
When cooking your toffee, start heating your pan slowly. Slow even heat is your friend and will lead to consistent results. I find cooking to be relaxing and a way to unwind after a hectic day/week so take your time and enjoy the process. Plus if you make it right the first time, the last step is to stab it with a knife, which is great stress reliever on its own. If your toffee doesn’t seem to be cooking evenly, pick up the pan and swirl the mixture around a bit. Don’t stir it with your spatula as this can cause separation of the butter and the sugars. This will ruin the entire batch and you’ll have to start over.
When the sugars are added to the butter and stirred in, watch the candy thermometer like a hawk. Its going to rise excruciatingly slowly but if you turn up the heat, the temperature will shoot right up, so take it slow and steady.
Everything else you need to know is in the recipe. In the unlikely event you actually took the time to read this, thank you. Hopefully you found some of this info useful and you nail this recipe on the first try.
The Most Delicious Toffee Recipe
Equipment
- Candy Thermometer
- Sauce Pan
- 9×13 Baking Tray
- Offset Spatula
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 150 grams Roasted Almonds
- 225 grams Butter roughly 2 sticks of butter
- 125 grams White Sugar
- 140 grams Brown Sugar
- 3 tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp Water
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 225 grams Dark Chocolate (60-72%) Coarsely Chopped
Instructions
Ingredient Prep
- Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit and place the almonds on a flat baking tray150 grams Roasted Almonds
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on how roasted you like your almonds, stirring the almonds every 5 minutes or so to ensure even roasting.150 grams Roasted Almonds
- While the almonds are roasting, measure out the rest of your ingredients and set aside until ready to use.
- Once the almonds are roasted to your liking, leave to cool.
- Once cool, pulse almonds in a food processor until coarsely ground but not powdery150 grams Roasted Almonds
Toffee Assembly
- Grease a 9×13 baking tray, the wrappers from the sticks of butter work great for this.
- Place the butter in a sauce pan over low heat.225 grams Butter
- Once the butter is halfway melted, add the sugars, water, and honey and stir to combine until fully incorporated.125 grams White Sugar, 140 grams Brown Sugar, 3 tbsp Honey, 2 tbsp Water
- Clip the candy thermometer to the side of the sauce pan and turn heat up to medium low. The mixture will start to bubble and turn brown as it cooks. If the mixture seems to be cooking unevenly, you can swirl the mixture in the pan by tilting it around but do not stir with a utensil.
- Once the candy thermometer reads just under 150 Celsius, about 10-15 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and remove the thermometer and stir in the vanilla and salt. Once combined pour mixture into the greased 9×13 pan.1 tsp Vanilla Extract, 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- Once the mixture has evened out in the pan, leave to cool for one minute and then sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the top of the toffee and wait for it to melt, around 3 minutes. Use the offset spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the top of the toffee.225 grams Dark Chocolate (60-72%)
- Sprinkle the almonds over the top of the chocolate and gently press the almonds into the chocolate so that they stick.150 grams Roasted Almonds
- Cover the toffee and freeze for 30 minutes or until firm.
- Remove from freezer and break toffee into pieces with a knife. Store toffee in a cool place for up to a week.
