English Toffee - A Sweet Holiday Tradition (2024)

It's the holidays and I'm making English toffee - a tradition in my family since I was a child. Making English toffee is an endeavor with results that seem reallyextravagant,but the actual process is quite simple. So here, for your holiday pleasure, is my family recipe for English toffee. It’s a wonderful treat for yourself, and an impressive gift for family, friends, colleagues and clients. Happy holidays!

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English Toffee

Makes 4 lbs. of toffee - 1 large baking sheet or four 6" x 8" foil pans.

Ingredients

1 pound salted butter (if you use unsalted, add 1 tsp. salt)
3 cups white sugar (1lb., 6 oz.)
2/3 cup water
1 lb. good quality chocolate — milk or dark as you prefer. (See notes below)
12 oz. nuts, coarsely chopped. Walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts.
2 tsp coarse sea salt or kosher salt, optional

Notes about chocolate
Chocolate chips are better than bar or pure chocolate, because they are formulated to stick better. A baking supply shop is a good source because you can buyhigher quality at larger bulkfor lower prices.

Notes about nuts
Use walnuts and pecans raw, but I prefer other nuts roasted. Roasted and salted is even better if you like the combination of salty and sweet. Don't use peanuts.

Tools

A large saucepan with a heavy bottom, at least 4 quart capacity
This should NOT be a non-stick pan, because non-stick pans allow crystals to be pulled into the cooking toffee and will cause the batch to crystallize.The heavy pan distributes heavy evenly so the toffee cooks without burning.

A stirring paddle -- wooden is best
Here's my favorite toffee-stirring tool. Its flat bottom scrapes the bottom and sharp corners wedge into the corners of the pan. The long handle keeps my hand back away from the hot toffee. Don’t use a metal spoon — it conducts heat. And don’t use a plastic spoon — it will melt.

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Pastry brush and cup of water
You'll use these to rinse sugar crystals from the side of the pan as you cook. This is important, as it keeps the toffee from crystallizing.

English Toffee - A Sweet Holiday Tradition (2)

Cookie Sheet or Small Foil Tins
This recipe makes a large cookie sheet or four6" x 8" foil tins. I really like the tins for gift-giving. They fit perfectly sideways into a U.S. Postal Service padded flat-rate envelope for mailing. Click here for the ones I buy on Amazon.

English Toffee - A Sweet Holiday Tradition (3)

Clear plastic gift-giving bags
If you're using the foil tins for individual gifts, packaging them in clear plastic bags makes them look appealing and professional. Here are the ones I bought on Amazon.

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Instructions

Pay close attention to the cooking technique — it’s not difficult, but there are reasons for doing what you do.

Choose a clear day when the humidity is low. Do not try to make candy on a rainy day. If there is too much humidity in the atmosphere the toffee will not harden, and instead will turn to sugar crystals.

Preparea baking sheet and the nuts in advance. Use a metal cookie sheet (it must have4 sides, not a pan with one edge flat)or 4 foil mini-broiler pans. (These 6″ x 8″ pans are the most practical if you are making gifts, because you can gift the English toffee right in the pan.) Spread the nuts over the bottom of the cookie sheet or foil pans.

Before starting to cook the toffee, fill the cup with water, place the brush next to it, and set it next to the stove where you are going to cook.

The simple explanation of how to cook the toffee is this: Put the sugar (and salt), water and butter in the pan. Using medium-to-high heat, melt and stir the ingredients until the sugar caramelizes. This is what is going to happen and what to watch for:

The butter will melt and the sugar will dissolve. As soon as the butter has completely melted, the mixture will bubble up to about double the size it began. It will stay at this height throughout the entire cooking process.

English Toffee - A Sweet Holiday Tradition (4)

You must stir constantly, and stirring technique is actually important to the outcome of the toffee, so pay attention: When you stir, scrape the bottom of the pan.**Make small circles from the edge of the pan through the center, like drawing petals on a flower. This mixes the hotter liquid from the outside into the cooler liquid in the center and keeps the liquid an even temperature so the toffee cooks evenly. Stir steadily at a medium speed, keeping the surface of the candy at the same level — don’t make “waves” of liquid against the side of the pan, anddon’t scrape the sides of the pan. Why? Because the thin layer of sugar that will get left on the side of the pan is where sugar crystals can form, and if they do, they will make the entire batch of toffee turn to sugar crystals, rather than hard candy. If this thin film of sugar does happen to form or when splashes drops of sugar onto the rim of the pan, use the pastry brush dipped in water to wash thesugar down fromthe side of the pan, dissolving any sugar crystals that may have formed.

After about 15 minutes, you will notice that the candy starts to pull away from the side of the pan as you stir. It will also begin to turn golden. Keep stirring. As it starts to darken, drop a bit of candy off the spoon into the ice water in the small bowl. The first testwill probably be partly soft, with a hard shell. That’s called “soft crack” stage, and the toffee isn’t ready yet. Keep stirring and cooking until the liquid is the color of, well,toffee (a rich golden brown). When that happens, the drop of candy that you drop in the water will immediately become hard. This is called “hard crack” stage and this means the toffee is done.*

You will know the toffee is ready when it turns a rich toffee color and suddenly you get a strong whiff oftoffee scent. Remove the pan of toffee from the stove and immediately pour it over the nuts in the prepared pans.

If you were very careful about washing crystals from the side of the pan, you should be able to scrape the sides of the cooking pan into the pans of toffee. If you have doubts about crystallization, don'tscrape the cooking pan into the cooking sheets, because crystallizaton will spread through the whole batch of toffee. Scrape the pan into a separate dish (use a flexible metal one, like another cookie sheet or foil pan so the toffee is easy to remove). This “tail end” of the batch may or may not crystallize, but you don’t want to run the risk that if it does it will crystallize the whole batch. I like to save this leftover to break up and put in my gourmet chocolate chip cookies.

Let the toffee cool about 5 minutes until a film forms over the top but the toffee is still warm to the touch. Sprinkle chocolate chipson top of the toffee. Wait a few minutes to allow them to melt (they will become shiny), then use the back of a spoon to spread the chocolate around. If the toffee gets too cool and the chocolate doesn't melt, put the pan of toffee into a warm oven for a few moments to melt the chocolate.

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Sprinkle the remaining nuts on top. If you wish, sprinkle a small amount of sea salt over the surface of the chocolate as well. (Don’t do this if you used salted nuts – they have enough salt already.)

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Cool the toffee completely before putting into bags or an airtight container. Break into chunks to serve. Store away from humidity. Can be frozen.

Just a note of caution about candy making:Sugar syrup is extremely hot and does not cool quickly. If you spill on flesh it will burn long and deep. Do not make candy with young children around, and take care not to spill on yourself when handling hot sugar syrup. If you do, immediately plunge the syrup-covered area into ice water to cool the syrup and stop the burning.

* Funny story: In my apartment the smoke detectors are extremely sensitive. As it turns out,every time I make toffee, they start wailing right at the moment whenthe toffee is ready to remove from the stove. I don’t even have to drop-test the syrup any more!

Happy Quilting & Good Eating!

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English Toffee - A Sweet Holiday Tradition (2024)

FAQs

What culture is toffee from? ›

The Early Origins of Toffee

England and many other European countries took a particular liking to toffee thanks to their plentiful butter supplies. At any rate, toffee took off in the early 1800's, and we know this for a fact since The Oxford English Dictionary first mentioned the word “toffee” in 1825.

What is the origin of English toffee? ›

Toffee didn't appear in dictionaries until after 1825, making it something of a newcomer to the world of candy. Most food historians agree that the sweet treat likely originated in Wales and then rose to prominence across Britain and Europe where supplies of butter and eventually imported sugar were plentiful.

What are the facts about English toffee? ›

English toffee is a sweet candy that people make from sugar, butter, and almonds. It has a crunchy texture and a buttery, nutty flavor. English toffee is also known as butter crunch or almond crunch. It originated in England in the late 1800s.

What is the difference between American and English toffee? ›

In America we call most toffee, English Toffee. What's the difference between English and American toffee? The main difference is that traditional English toffee is created without nuts, while American toffee is created with a variety of nuts. The most common nuts being the almond.

What does toffee mean in the UK? ›

a hard, chewy, often brown sweet that is made from sugar boiled with butter.

What is toffee called in America? ›

American-style toffee is called Buttercrunch.

Typically made with white sugar, it is often dusted with crushed almonds or other nuts. Some are enrobed in chocolate—dark, milk or white. Buttercrunch can also beflavored with espresso, lavender, spices, etc. (See photo at top of page.)

What is toffee in British slang? ›

, British Slang. stuck-up; conceited; pretentious: a toffee-nosed butler; a toffee-nosed shop.

What is the difference between Irish and English toffee? ›

Irish Toffee is English Toffee... But Better!

What is the difference between English toffee and Irish toffee? Well, Irish toffee is English toffee at its best. Better ingredients, family recipes, and more butter make for a toffee that's simply a step above the rest!

What is the difference between taffy and toffee? ›

The difference is mainly in the candy-making process: taffy is pulled and stretched until it's soft and chewy. Toffee, on the other hand, won't stick in your teeth like taffy, because it is boiled, shaped, and allowed to harden into a delicious, glossy slab.

Why is toffee called toffee? ›

The food writer Harold McGee points to the native Creole language wherein toffee indicates a mixture of molasses and sugar. A third theory says that toffee's earlier spelling, “toughy” or “tuffy”, was actually meant to refer to it's chewy toughness. The term is said to have come from a southern British dialect.

What's the difference between butterscotch and English toffee? ›

Toffee vs Butterscotch

While butterscotch is cooked to a soft-crack stage, toffee is produced by allowing that same butter and brown sugar mixture to reach the hard-crack stage. Butterscotch tends to be chewy and pliable; toffee is brittle and more breakable.

Where is famous for toffee? ›

The famous selection of toffees and chocolates was the creation of Mackintosh, a Halifax based company which became a global sensation for their famous toffee recipe. Founded in 1890, the company grew from strength to strength over the twentieth century and put Halifax on the map as the undisputed 'Toffee Town'.

Do you refrigerate English toffee? ›

+ What is the shelf life? Three months unopened, if stored in a cool dry place. + Can it be refrigerated? Yes, but it needs to be set out of the refrigerator to bring to room temperature before serving.

What pairs well with English toffee? ›

What Goes Best With Toffee?
  • Toffee with Coffee. When you're savoring a cup of coffee after dinner, have some almond toffee with it. ...
  • Crisp Apples & Toffee. The crisp, tangy flavor of apples and the sweet taste of toffee are a perfect combination. ...
  • Sweet Potatoes. ...
  • Toffee Ice Cream Topping.

Why does the butter separate when making English toffee? ›

If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out. It can also be caused by the mixture being heated unevenly (if the pan has a thin base and has hot spots).

Where is Toffifee from? ›

Toffifee (known in the United States as Toffifay) is a German brand of caramel candies, owned by the Berlin-based German company August Storck KG. Toffifee are caramel cups containing nougat, caramel and a hazelnut, topped with a chocolate button.

Where is toffee made from? ›

Toffee is made from sugar mixed with milk, butter or cream plus an ingredient such as lemon juice or golden syrup to stop it crystallising. The mixture is heated to between 140C and 154C ('soft crack' stage and 'hard crack' stage), then allowed to cool and set.

Is toffee crisp British? ›

Initially TOFFEE CRISP Bars were produced at MacKintosh's factory in Halifax, however in 2012 production was moved to Newcastle where they still continue to be made to this day.In the 1980's and 1990's there were a series of TV advertisem*nts which each ended with the strapline "Somebody, somewhere is have a Toffee ...

Where did toffee pudding originate? ›

Development. The origins of sticky toffee pudding are disputed. Owners of several pubs, including the Gait Inn in Millington, East Riding of Yorkshire (claimed to 1907) and the Udny Arms Hotel in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire (1960s), claim to have invented it.

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