How To Make Toffee
Everyone should know how to make toffee. The reason I think folks should know how to make toffee is that it is one of those very simple recipes that can be put made quickly. With a little bit of cooling time, a very nice treat can be had. This type of easy recipe is up there with how to make noodles and how to make scrambled eggs. Buttery, crisp toffee with a nice coating of chocolate is simple and can stand on its own against any other dessert-y baked good (even thought it is not baked). It should be remembered, though, that a good toffee can also be easily embellished. There is certainly the official recipe for pumpkin spice toffee, but toffee can also be souped up deliciously with a little espresso!
How To Make Toffee – The Basic Recipe
Making a rich buttery toffee is not that difficult. The main ingredients of a toffee are butter and sugar. If you are brave and you keep your cardiologist in the dark about your eating habits, you can use a 1:1 ratio – 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of sugar. I like to watch my girlish figure so I use ½ cup of butter. It still makes a fine toffee. Sugar and butter become toffee by heating the ingredients to 300F. The use of a candy or instant read thermometer is certainly in order to do this job. You can go old school and drop a little of the mixture into some cold water to see what stage the sugar has reached, but I prefer the thermometer. It is more exact and it makes it so I don’t have to be fussing with a mixture of boiling sugar and fat. After reaching temperature, the hot mixture is poured into a prepared pan, chocolate is placed on top and allowed to melt all over the top, then the whole thing is allowed to cool. Simple.
How To Make Toffee – A Few Other Additions
For toffee, there are a few other additions to consider. To round out the recipe, an addition of vanilla is certainly a must. Vanilla really brings a toffee together, mocha or not. Baking soda is also on the list of other considerations. Baking soda is more typical in a peanut brittle, but it can be used in toffee recipes, too. The addition of baking soda after the mixture reaches temperature helps incorporate more bubbles and leads to a much lighter texture. I prefer a toffee with a big crunch so I don’t add it, but if a lighter toffee is of interest, a small addition (¼ tsp) of baking soda makes it easy to achieve.
How To Make Toffee – The Espresso
Whenever we consider how to make anything we should be considering how to make it more delicious, too. One way to do this is to add a few shots of fresh brewed espresso to the mix. A nice buttery, mocha toffee is a delicious treat that is just different enough to keep things interesting. A dark chocolate on top makes a nice balance of bitter and sweet, and a sprinkling of crushed coffee beans or cocoa nibs is a nice touch.
How To Make Toffee – A Video and Recipe
The ‘How To Make Toffee – Mocha Coffee Toffee Recipe’ video is below. The full recipe follows.
- 8 oz of dark chocolate (70 or 85% cacao)
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 tbsp of corn syrup
- 2 shots of freshly brewed espresso
- 1 tsp vanilla
- cocoa nibs or crushed espresso beans
- Prepare a 9x13 baking tray by lining it with parchment paper. (for thicker toffee use a smaller pan)
- With a sharp knife, roughly chop the chocolate.
- Connect a candy thermometer to a medium pot.
- Add the butter, sugar, corn syrup, espresso and vanilla to the pot.
- Put the pot over low heat and stir until all of the ingredients are well Incorporated and the butter is fully melted.
- When all the ingredients are incorporated together, turn the heat to medium and slowly heat the mixture to 300°F stirring occasionally.
- When the mixture reaches 300°F, pour the toffee into the prepared pan.
- While the toffee is hot, sprinkle the top with the dark chocolate. Wait five minutes until the chocolate is melted, then, using a heat proof spatula, spread the chocolate all over the top of the toffee.
- Sprinkle cocoa nibs or crushed espresso beans on top of the chocolate.
- Let cool completely until the chocolate and toffee are set.
- Break into pieces and serve.
- Store in an air tight container in the fridge.
- For a plain buttery toffee, omit the espresso.
- For an extra rich toffee, increase the butter to 1 cup (2 sticks)
- Or a toffee that is lighter in texture, add ¼ tsp of baking soda after the ingredients reach 300F.
- If the toffee breaks during heating continue to heat the mixture to 300F, remove from the heat, then add a splash of water while stirring to bring the toffee back together. Pour the toffee into the prepared pan. Only add a little bit of water. Too much water and your toffee will be chewy not hard.
