Try this recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 138.415620113592 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 19.613085 g
- Fiber 2.6160001039505 g
- Protein 2.500085 g
- Saturated Fat 1.68426 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (164g)
- Sodium 0.189 mg
- Sugar 135.799620009642 g
- Trans Fat 0.920443499999999 g
- Calories 714 calories
Step-by-step
- Start by preheating the oven to 200oC.
- On a baking sheet, spread out the almonds and place in the oven for 10 minutes until roasted. You may want to stir them half way.
- Once roasted, set aside to cool for a few minutes then spread on a chopping board.
- Take a sharp chef's knife and chop the almonds into halves or even quarters.
- On another baking tray, line with a silicone baking mat and spread the chopped almonds evenly.
- In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, stir together the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. (Note: this should be with a wooden spoon.)
- Continue to stir until dissolved and bring to a gentle boil.
- Reduce the heat to a low-medium--it's safer to make candy slowly yet surely in my opinion.
- Continue slowly stirring until the toffee is a shade lighter than the skin of your almonds. This may take approximately 10 minutes.
- Pour over the almonds on the baking mat lined tray, spread with the back of the wooden spoon and let sit to cool.
- Break the chocolate pieces up, place in a microwavable container and microwave at 50% for 2 minutes (this will depend on your microwave), stirring halfway through.
- Pour then spread the melted chocolate over the toffee, and sprinkle with the crushed pecans.
- Place the tray into the fridge to harden.
- Break the toffee pieces by hand into smaller bite sized pieces.
- Heat some water in your tea kettle and pour the boiling water into the pot and place the wooden spoon in to dissolve any leftover toffee that way have hardened.
Unlike soft caramels that rely on high moisture content and dairy solids to remain chewy, hard English toffee is essentially a fragile glass composed of caramelized sucrose with dispersed fat globules. Controlling this crystalline structure requires deliberate equipment choices, particularly when omitting a digital candy thermometer. A heavy-bottomed copper or enameled cast-iron saucepan prevents localized hot spots that scorch sucrose molecules before the entire batch reaches the hard-crack stage, which visually corresponds to a golden hue resembling the skin of roasted almonds.
Timing remains critical during the transition from emulsion to fracture. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon ensures the butter emulsion does not break apart from the boiling sugar syrup. Once poured, ambient temperature dictates how rapidly the sugar matrix sets before the residual heat from the melted chocolate layer alters the snap.
Variations in nut inclusions alter the final fat profile. Swapping whole raw almonds for macadamias introduces extra oils that can inhibit clean breaks if not roasted thoroughly beforehand to drive off internal moisture.
