English Toffee

English Toffee

So the last two nights were left overs and out to dinner! Were you wondering where I went? I'm back! I really enjoy baking and candy making - and I've recently made my famous English Toffee that I usually reserve for holidays. I had a friend in need of a pick me up and I thought this would be appropriate. People tend to be afraid of making candy, but it's really not difficult. The only thing that can truly go wrong is the mixture can 'sugar' on you and not have that hard toffee crunch. I like to test a small bit of the mixture in a cup of water before I pour it over the nuts. You'll know if it's right! You do need a candy thermometer, especially when making candy that need's to get to 'hard crack' stage. I prefer to roast my pecans in a little butter and salt for this recipe, and the better the chocolate on top, the better the candy. Ghiradelli works great and has recently been available in many grocery stores in bars. If all else fails, juse use chocolate chips. This is really a treat!

origin - lots of recipes!
difficult - easy

3/4 cup pecans roughly chopped plus 1/4 cup finely chopped for the top
1 cup butter - don't worry, it's an entire batch of candy!
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla - use real vanilla, not imitation! It's so much better.
1/8 tsp. salt - or small pinch
2 8 oz bars bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate OR 8-10 oz semi sweet chocolate chips melted

Toast the pecans in a 350 degree oven (I use my toaster oven for this all the time)6-8 minutes or until fragrant. I prefer to toast them whole and then chop them. Be careful not to burn them, they will taste very rancid. Form a 10" shell out of heavy duty aluminum foil with 1" sides and place on a baking sheet. Scatter the roughly chopped pecans over the bottom. In a heavy saucepan, cook the butter, sugar, water and salt over medium heat until the temperature reaches 305 degrees (hard crack stage). Stir occasionally until mixture becomes dark golden brown then immediately remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract quickly and pour mixture over the nuts. cool at room temperature for 45 minutes or until hard. Melt chocolate and spread over the cooled toffee then lightly sprinkle/press the finely chopped pecans over the top. Cool completely until the chocolate hardens. Break toffee into pieces - I usually start making cuts with a large knife and the candy will began cracking.