Old Fashioned English Almond 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.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Butter a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
• Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in sugar and water. Bring to a boil and add almonds. Cook, stirring constantly until nuts are toasted and the sugar is golden. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan; do not spread.
• Immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Let stand for a minute, then spread the chocolate over the top. Let cool completely, then break into pieces.

ALMOND ROCA (ENGLISH TOFFEE)

Steps:

• Spread almonds evenly on a buttered 12 x 17-inch jelly roll pan. (I used a Silpat sheet and only buttered sides and that worked great).
• Mix sugar, butter and water in a large saucepan. Cook over high heat until tan (295°F at sea level). It needs to be past the point where the mixture begins to turn tan. It will be a foamy, thick, medium tan. Be sure to stir constantly with a wooden spoon.
• Pour over sliced almonds and spread as much as possible.
• Sprinkle chocolate pieces over immediately. Let melt a minute or two and then spread evenly with knife.
• When completely cool and chocolate is solid, break into pieces.

GRANDMA'S FAMOUS CHRISTMAS ALMOND BUTTER TOFFEE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a heavy 4 quart saucepan. Add sugar syrup and water.
• Cook mixture, stirring often to hard crack stage (300F on a candy thermometer and medium golden brown)
• Watch carefully after syrup reaches 230F - do not over cook - it will scorch! - do not under cook - it will not be brittle. Test in cold water - it will be of brittle texture.
• Quickly stir in the sliced toasted almonds. Turn out on large ungreased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.
• Melt chocolate in double boiler over hot water.
• After candy sets, spread with melted chocolate.
• Sprinkle finely chopped almonds over soft chocolate.
• Chill entire candy; then break into sizable pieces.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients except the Hershey Bars.
• Cook in heavy pan over high heat.
• Stir until shade darker than brown sugar- about 10 to 12 minutes.
• Pour onto cookie sheet and spread with back of wooden spoon to all edges.
• Crush five Hershey Bars and spread over the top.
• Refrigerate immediately for about an hour or until cool.
• When harden, break into pieces and store in air tight container.
• Best if kept in refrigerator.

ALMOND-ENCRUSTED ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Chop the almonds until they are broken into chunks with a food processor or blender.
• Remove half and continue to grind the remaining portion into a coarse meal- Set both halves aside for later.
• Melt butter with salt on medium heat.
• Stir sugar in slowly.
• Continue cooking and stirring for approximately 15 minutes.
• At first, the sugar will sink to the bottom and not melt.
• Eventually, the sugar and butter will melt into each other into a pearly, puffy mixture (make sure your pan is large enough) and then will continue to darken from buttery yellow to tan.
• When it turns tan, stir in the chunks of almond and vanilla, darkening the mixture further.
• Continue stirring until the almonds are toasted- You will be able to tell by the scent- Be very careful at this point that the almonds do not begin to burn!
• The temperature should be about 280°/Hard crack stage and if butter starts to rise to the top, take mixture off the heat immediately.
• Stir it briskly once off the heat then pour into a 11x15 baking sheet that has been lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• Cut 1/2 the chocolate up and melt over a double boiler and spread over the surface of the cooling toffee.
• Dust surface with 1/2 of the almond meal.
• Once cooled and hardened, melt the remaining chocolate, flip toffee out of the pan, and coat the bottom.
• Repeat dusting of almonds.
• Don't get all stressed if the toffee breaks-- it's supposed to be handy-size chunks.
• Refrigerate until hardened thoroughly and finish breaking into piece.
• Continue to refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve/given as gift/eaten!