Toffee is a type of candy that is made by cooking sugar and butter until the sugar reaches a specific concentration in the water from the butter. When the mixture cools, it forms a brittle confection with the taste of butterscotch. The butterscotch-y taste of toffee comes from a Maillard browning reaction between the sugar molecules and the milk proteins in the butter. The technique for making toffee is similar to that for making fudge.
English Toffee is toffee with chocolate and almonds on one or both sides.
For making toffee, the appropriate starting ratio of sugar to butter is basically 1:1 (by weight). And technically, all you need to make toffee is butter and sugar. Since butter and sugar have similar weights per volume, many recipes express the 1:1 ratio in terms of volume instead of weight – I prefer to scale my ingredients.
Some people insist that you should use light brown sugar or brown sugar to make toffee – I prefer to use white sugar because I don’t like the molasses-y flavor of brown sugar toffee. I add a little bit of salt for flavor (I use unsalted butter) and I use a little bit of corn syrup to prevent re-crystallization of the sugar during the cooking and cooling process. I also like to add a little bit of additional water initially to help get the sugar dissolved as quickly as possible – this means that the mixture will ultimately need to cook longer for that water to boil-off so the sugar can reach the desired concentration for the toffee to have the right consistency. You can tell when the sugar concentration is ideal for toffee by checking the temperature of your butter and sugar mixture with a candy thermometer as it boils – the target temperature for your butter/sugar mixture is 300°F (also called the “hard-crack stage” for candy making).
Before pouring my molten toffee to set, I stirred-in some vanilla bean paste and some espresso powder for flavor. So, technically, this is a coffee-toffee.
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English Coffee-Toffee
Ingredients:
Sugar – 2 cups – 14 oz.
Unsalted Butter – 12 oz. (yes, that’s 3 sticks)
Corn Syrup – 1 1/2 Tbsp.
Salt – 1 1/2 tsp.
Water – 2 Tbsp.
Flavor:
Vanilla Bean Paste – 1 Tbsp. (optional – or use Vanilla Extract)
Espresso Powder – 1 Tbsp. (optional)
Topping:
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – 8 oz.
Toasted Almond Slivers – 6 oz.
Directions:
(1) Have everything measured and ready before starting to make the toffee. Toast the slivered almonds. Be sure to use a 2-3 qt. saucepan that has a heavy bottom and tall sides – it is important that your cooking vessel have a heavy bottom to insure you can heat your sugar solution slowly and evenly to prevent the sugar from burning before it can go into solution. To form your toffee, use a half-sheet pan fitted with a silicone baking mat.
(2) Start by melting the butter with the water and corn syrup in your saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar all at once and stir vigorously to get the sugar to dissolve as quickly as possible. Make sure there are no patches of dry sugar at the bottom of your pot – it could easily burn. Stir your mixture continuously while it comes to a boil.
(3) Once the mixture comes to a boil, insert a candy thermometer into the liquid (insuring that it does not touch the bottom of the saucepan). Continue to boil the mixture gently, stirring it occasionally, to increase the concentration of sugar until your thermometer reads 300°F. The temperature will rise slowly – for this batch, it took nearly 20 minutes. As the mixture cooks, the color will change from pale yellow to light brown. When the temperature reaches 300°F, remove the saucepan from the heat and quickly whisk-in the vanilla bean paste and espresso powder (if using).
(4) Pour the hot molten toffee into the prepared sheet pan – the toffee won’t fill the sheet pan. Your goal here is just to pour the toffee as evenly as possible onto the silicone mat and allow it to spread on its own.
(5) While the toffee is still hot, sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top surface of the toffee. The heat from the toffee will melt the chocolate. After a few minutes, use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the top surface of the toffee. Sprinkle the toasted almonds over the melted chocolate and gently press them into the chocolate with the palm of your hand.
(6) Allow the toffee to cool completely (until the chocolate has firmed-up). This can take a LONG time. I cooled my toffee in the refrigerator for 2 hours and then gave it another 15 minutes in the freezer before I broke it into pieces for consumption.
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Start by gathering and preparing your ingredients:
Toast the almonds.
Note – I prefer to toast my almonds in a pan – I can keep them moving so they toast more evenly and I can control the heat better to keep them from burning.
Have the chocolate chips and toasted almonds ready to top the toffee once it is poured.
Use a half-sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat to hold the toffee.
Note – If you use a silicone baking mat, you don’t need to butter the pan. If you don’t have a silicone baking mat, be sure to butter your sheet pan liberally (even if you use parchment or foil).
My flavoring additives.
The fundamental components of my toffee – butter, sugar, a little corn syrup, a little water, and a little salt (not shown).
With everything ready, start cooking your toffee:
Melt the butter with the water and corn syrup in your saucepan over medium heat.
Add the sugar all at once.
Stir your mixture continuously while it comes to a boil.
Insert a candy thermometer into the mixture.
Continue to boil the mixture gently, stirring it occasionally, until your thermometer reads 300°F.
As the mixture cooks, the color will change from pale yellow to light brown.
When the temperature reaches 300°F, remove the saucepan from the heat and quickly whisk-in the vanilla bean paste and espresso powder (if using).
Note – Because I only have two hands, I wasn’t able to take pictures of the flavors going into the molten toffee after the temperature reached 300°F. The mixture is quite viscous so it is important that you whisk vigorously and thoroughly to insure that the flavors are fully incorporated.
Pour the hot molten toffee into the prepared sheet pan.
Note – As you can see, the toffee won’t fill the sheet pan – the sheet pan is there just to support the toffee while it cools. The molten toffee is quite viscous and will be barely fluid when you pour it.
While the toffee is still hot, sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top surface of the toffee.
After a few minutes, use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the top surface of the toffee.
Sprinkle the toasted almonds over the melted chocolate and gently press them into the chocolate with the palm of your hand.
Remember the the toffee needs to cool completely before your break it into pieces. At room temperature, it would probably need to cool overnight. I cooled my toffee at room temperature for about 30 minutes then in the refrigerator for 2 additional hours.
My toffee was about 3/8″ thick before the chocolate and almonds were added.
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