English Toffee

We live about 5 miles away from a local community college that offers lots of Continuing Education classes. I've taken a few classes here and there and signed up to take a candy making class last Saturday. English Toffee, Old-fashioned Rock Candy and Truffles were on the agenda.

By far, the toffee was my favorite. No surprise though, since I love the stuff. I've only attempted to make candy once and that was a disaster since the thermometer broke on me in the pan and I had to throw it all out. All I need to do is invest in a decent thermometer and I have another 'tried and true' recipe to add to my must-make Christmas baking list.

David laughed a me for taking a picture, but I don't care. I was proud that it set up correctly! My batch ended up being a lot thicker than it should because we only used one pan per batch. We were supposed to share a batch between 2 people but there were only 4 people in the class. YUM, more for me.

Three pounds is a LOT of toffee. I need to dig out my rollig pin and chop some more up and bring it into work. Whacking the toffee into small pieces is a great stress reliever too - bonus!




English Toffee

1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 cups pecans -- chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons salt
18 ounces chocolate

Melt butter in a pot on the stove top, Add sugars and corn syrup to the melted butter. Stir in water. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches 240 degrees. At 240 degrees add about 3/4 of the chopped pecans. At 260 degrees lower the heat and finish cooking until it reaches 300 degrees, stirring constantly. Should take 15-20 minutes. Mixture should be a beautiful, bubbly, golden brown color. At 300 degrees remove from heat.

Add vanilla and salt. Stir quickly. Pour the mixture out onto 2 rimmed baking sheets (approximately 10 x 15). Smooth out the toffee to 1/4 inch thickness. After 5 - 10 minutes, sprinkle chocolate chips on top and let sit 5 minutes or until they start to melt. Spread with spatula to smooth over toffee. Sprinkle with freshly toasted nuts that have been chopped fine and allowed to cool. Break into bite sized pieces and store in an air tight container for up to a month in the refrigerator. Will keep for a week or so at room temperature before it begins to break down. Makes about 3 pounds.