Dark English Toffee Food

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• In heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, water, and salt.
• Cook to hard-crack stage (300°F) stirring with a WOODEN SPOON constantly and watching carefully. Do not try a plastic spoon, it will melt into your delicious candy!
• Immediately pour into ungreased 13"x9" pan.
• Cool until hard.
• Melt chocolate over hot, but not boiling water.
• Spread over toffee; sprinkle with nuts, pressing them into chocolate.
• Let stand 2-3 hours or chill 30 minutes.
• Break into bite-size pieces.

DARK ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat. Heat slowly, stirring until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
• Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and gently boil for around 2 minutes.
• Remove the cover and continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 300°F on a candy thermometer; it should take 10-15 minutes.
• Pour the mixture into a buttered 6x6-inch pan, let the toffee cool to the touch and score it into 1-inch squares. Let the toffee cool completely; turn it out onto a board, bread the toffee into pieces and warp them individually in squares of waxed paper. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

ENGLISH STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch round or square baking dish. Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper. Chop the dates fine. Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a bowl of electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the date mixture to the batter and fold until blended with a rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack.
• Toffee Sauce: Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Preheat broiler. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the sauce over the pudding. Spread evenly on top. Place pudding under the broiler until the topping is bubbly, about 1 minute. Serve immediately spooned into dessert bowls. Drizzle with toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Spray 10 x 10 pan with Pam.
• Sprinkle with 4 oz chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts.
• Cook sugar and butter to 305-310 degrees, using a candy thermometer.
• Pour over nuts and chips and immediately sprinkle with remaining chocolate and nuts.
• Allow to cool slightly and score into squares.
• Refrigerate until chocolate is set and break up.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. (Use a pot larger than you think you need, because the caramel will eventually expand quite a bit.) While the butter is melting, crush unsalted peanuts in a bowl with the end of a rolling pin. Once the butter has melted, stir in sugar and water with a heat-resistant spatula. Add a pinch of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add corn syrup. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and continue cooking until it reads 310 degrees F.
• When the caramel is golden and the thermometer registers 310 degrees F, remove the thermometer, add the baking soda, and stir in peanuts. Cook until temperature reads 320 degrees F, then pour the mixture onto a Silpat baking liner and lay another Silpat on top. Use a rolling pin to roll the mixture out to desired thickness and then transfer to a baking sheet. Let cool for 45 minutes.
• Melt 2/3 of the chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water. If it begins to feel too thick, add a few drops of canola oil to loosen it up. Check the temperature of the chocolate by testing it on your bottom lip; it should feel warm, but not too hot. Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the remaining 1/3 of chocolate to cool it down. Wipe toffee with a paper towel to remove any excess fat. Pour about half of the melted chocolate over the toffee and spread with an offset spatula. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth; you want it to have a bit of a rustic look. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle with chopped peanuts and transfer to the fridge just until the chocolate has crystallized, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the fridge. Lay another Silpat and baking tray on top of the toffee and flip in one quick motion. Peel off the Silpat and repeat with chocolate and peanuts. Return to the fridge for another 2-3 minutes.
• Remove toffee from the fridge and transfer to a cutting board. Break into large or small pieces, pack in a bag, and finish with a bow.

EASY, EASY ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, melt SALTED butter on medium heat. Do not burn butter. It needs to stay yellow. (NOTE: I had many batches fail and separate until I figured out, upon investigation, that you MUST use SALTED butter. I think it has to do with a chemical reaction.).
• **Tip** Bring out a jar of peanut butter and turn it upside down near the skillet to use ONLY as a color guide to know when the mixture is done.
• Add sugar and stir until incorporated (sugar does not need to be "melted" into the butter, just no longer dry) Edited to add on 12/25/16, the temperature MUST STAY CONSTANT or the butter and sugar MAY separate during the final stages. Too high and your butter will burn, too low and you'll be stirring forever!
• **At no time can you walk away at this point, you must keep stirring so that the butter will not burn. It's very crucial.
• Add water, pouring it all over the pan. The butter/sugar will get bubbly and frothy -- keep constantly stirring -- stirring low and slow -- I use a rubber spatula. As you stir, angle your spatula down as low (level to the pan) as you can to have few air bubbles.
• I timed it, as you are stirring the yellow, sugary, melted, bubbly butter, at the 4 minute mark add the slivered almonds. Keep stirring.
• Stir continuously and slowly in a small circular motion bringing the outside mixture edges to the center as the sides will tend to cook faster than the middle. It will slowly begin to caramelize and toast up -- about 6 minutes more.
• Cook this mixture until it is the color of the inverted peanut butter jar.
• **Important** It will brown fast in the end, so don't let it get too dark or let the almonds get really burned).
• Pour into a 9 X 13 pan. (you could use disposable aluminum pans also). with your rubber spatula, spread the mixture quickly to the edges before it starts to harden on you.
• Let cool completely, remove from pan and pat off any extra butter from both sides with paper towels.
• Place on wax or parchment paper.
• Topping:.
• Microwave chocolate for 1 minute on high. (be mindful that every microwave is different and you must watch your chocolate closely so that it won't overcook). If a few seconds more are needed to melt completely, do so in small increments. You can also use a double boiler to melt chocolate -- I do prefer to do it this way.
• Coat toffee with chocolate (like frosting) and top with slivered almonds. I only cover one side but you can do both if desired.
• Lightly press down almonds to make sure they stick to the chocolate.
• Cool on the counter for at least 30 minutes, then put the pan into the refrigerator for 2 hours (You can stack multiple batches on top of each other as long as the chocolate is pretty solid).
• Break into pieces after it has hardened and store in a covered container.
• Variations: Use different kinds of chips. (mint, white, dark, milk chocolate).

ENGLISH TREACLE TOFFEE

Steps:

• Place the butter, water, and vinegar into a heavy bottomed suacepan, heat gently until the butter has melted.
• Add the sugar and molasses and allow to dissolve (takes about 20 minutes).
• Boil the mixture to a temp.
• of 280 degrees on a candy thermometer.
• Remove from the heat, allow bubbling to decrease.
• Pour the mixture into a well greased 8 inch square pan.
• When mixture has cooled, score surface into small squares with an oiled knife.
• When cold break into squares, wrap in cellophane and store in an airtight container.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Combined butter, sugar and water in a heavy sauce pan.
• Cook stirring constantly to the hard crack stage or 300 degrees.
• Immedieately pur into a buttered 9x13 cake pan, spreading quickly.
• Cool When cooled break into pieces and dip into the dipping chocolate.
• Place on waxed paper to set up.
• Sprinkle with ground nuts.
• When set place in an air tight container.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Get a cookie sheet ready with wax paper on it.
• In a medium size pan on medium heat, melt margarine and sugar.
• Stir constantly until you reach 285 degrees on the candy thermometer.
• (Usually about 15 minutes when hard crack stage sets in. You can also test in a glass of cold water by dropping in a bit and seeing if it hardens and is crunchy, which means it is ready).
• Pour mixture onto wax paper cookie sheet and let cool.
• This is the time to add nuts as well.
• In a double boiler (or in a pot that is atop a pot of steaming water) melt 1 teaspoon of shortening, and then add a 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips.
• When melted, pour on one side of the toffee batch, and spread out.
• Put in fridge and let cool.
• When chocolate has hardened flip entire toffee batch over on another piece of wax paper and peel off old wax paper.
• Repeat double boiler procedure and put in fridge.
• After cooled, you can now break up and eat.
• Store candy in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.