Toffee

 

Yum. This recipe is almost too good to share, but my landlady convinced me.

This is a pretty easy recipe. It comes from this wonderful cookbook, and it's not that hard, but make sure to be careful. Sugar burns are probably the worst kitchen burns, so wear close-toed shoes, use potholders or oven mitts, and by all means, don't taste any of it until you're absolutely sure it's cool. If you want to try it while cooking, spoon some out and let it harden or run it under cold water before you try it.

Prepare a 5" x 7" baking dish by buttering it (using a stick of butter). Don't use a nonstick pan unless you don't mind if the coating gets scratched--toffee is terribly hard to cut. In the bottom of the pan, put a single layer of sliced or slivered almonds.

On a cutting board, cut 4-6 oz. of chocolate into fine shavings. Put aside, but have it ready.

Measure 8 oz. of sugar on a kitchen scale. Put this into a small, sturdy pot and add 8 oz. of butter (two sticks). Use a spoon or butter knife to chop the butter into chunks. Put your pan over medium heat and start stirring. It'll take about 20 minutes to do the on-the-stove part.

When the butter is melted, add 1 t. vanilla. From here, the toffee will start to look stranger and stranger. It'll bubble a lot and be really slippery. Keep stirring until the sugar melts. When it has a light toffee-like color, and when it won't stick to a silicone spatula at all, and when there's water collecting around the edges on the top, it's done. Pour it evenly over the almonds and sprinkle the chocolate on top. The almonds will get toasted and the chocolate will melt because the sugar is so hot. Let the toffee harden overnight before you cut it.

When you cut the toffee, toffee shards will fly everywhere, so do yourself a favor and choose a spot that can be easily cleaned up. I mistakenly chose the kitchen table for the first batch, and now I have toffee shards all over the carpet. Use a sharp, sturdy knife. Don't expect to get even squares, because you won't. You'll get jagged pieces, plus a bunch of crumbs (which, of course, are the cook's prerogative). I intended to use the toffee crumbs in another cookie recipe, but then I realized they wouldn't stick around long enough to be used.

Note: After you put the toffee in the pan and cover it with the chocolate, the remaining toffee will harden pretty quickly in the pan, but it's too hot to eat right away. Scrape the leftover junk from the pan into a small bowl, and you can eat it from there after it hardens. It'll be a little grainier than the toffee will be, but it's a nice foretaste.

Further note: If you don't have a silicone spatula, don't stir the toffee with a plastic spatula, because the plastic spatula will melt. That's why they make silicone spatulas.


Update: If your toffee doesn't turn out, make it into some of this...