322150 Thu Aug 31 02:36:02 -0700 2006 20 31 Home Cooking 0 1844829 Corn syrup, or no corn syrup? I'm debating between two recipes: epicurious.com: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/100850 Uncle Phaedrus, whose French salted caramels I've made successfully: http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m1119F04.htm Also, 285 or 300 degrees? All the recipes seem to say 285, but a lot of comments on epicurious as well as past posts on this site suggest taking it all the way up to 300. I'm trying to get a caramel that has a nice snap but isn't actually too hard to chew, and won't stick to the teeth too much. Sort of like the texture of See's peanut brittle, which seems to have enough air in it to be crispy rather than hard but isn't "soft" as in "bendable." Hard to describe, but candy lovers will know what I mean. Thu Aug 31 02:36:02 -0700 2006 11577 Pei 1 1844881 seems to me the key is making the caramel with out cream and getting the temp right. Cady making in my world was confined to the glories of Maple sugar which was cooked to 275 as I recall. Love the Phaedrus site: wonder if there is any connection to our chowhound Phaedrus? Thu Aug 31 03:02:55 -0700 2006 1844829 10462 stlSarah 1 1844995 Ummmm... shouldn't brittle be... 'brittle?' Are you sure it isn't 'peanut bendable?' ;) Thu Aug 31 04:21:44 -0700 2006 1844829 13805 scott123 2 1845046 I'm trying to make toffee, not brittle! :) And toffe, I think, has a range of hardness. mmmm, brittle. Now you've got me wanting brittle. Thu Aug 31 04:58:28 -0700 2006 1844995 11577 Pei 3 1845086 Yes, toffee does have a range of hardness. I'm just pointing out that See's peanut 'brittle' is bendable, and brittle, by the nature of it's name, shouldn't bend. As far as which recipe to use, definitely go with Sweet's advice and use the baking soda one. Bubbles in toffee = baking soda. Thu Aug 31 05:37:09 -0700 2006 1845046 13805 scott123 1 1845068 I would go with the recipe with the baking soda. The soda produces carbon dioxide gas when mixed with the sugars which create a crisp but not-crack-your-teeth hard candy. Then cook the sugar to 300*. This should give you that crisp airy consistancy you are craving. Thu Aug 31 05:19:35 -0700 2006 1844829 22929 sweet. 1 1845681 I make toffee from an old, old recipe (don't remember the original source) and it uses only butter and brown sugar in equal proportions. No corn syrup, no baking soda, nothing else. You simply put a stick of butter and half a cup of brown sugar into a medium saucepan (it will boil up so you need extra room). Heat over medium until the butter is melted & sugar begins to dissolve, stir once or twice to get the sugar mixed in. Once it comes to a rolling boil, cook for 3-5 minutes (it's very humid where I live, so I sometimes give it an extra minute or two past the three minute mark to account for extra water in the sugar). Turn off the heat, and pour it out into a buttered, foil-lined 9" square pan whose bottom is covered with saltine crackers. Pop into a 375 oven for 5 minutes; remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped chocolate; spread chocolate once it is soft & then sprinkle with chopped nuts. The toffee can certainly be made without the crackers, but they give it a nice lightly salted crunch. Kept in an airtight container, it will last three or four days before sugaring. Recipes with a little karo or glucose syrup will make a harder toffee that is stable for longer periods of time, but they're generally a little more precise...requiring specific temps, longer boiling, etc. I like the old idiot-simple butter-brown-sugar method best, and its flavor is great. Thu Aug 31 15:22:38 -0700 2006 1844829 12023 Hungry Celeste 2 1885118 Thank you so much!! My Mom used to make this exact recipie and It has been so long since she's made it and she's forgotten the measurements and I am sooo happy to come across this recipie. I have looked everywhere for toffee that uses crackers and you saved me...thanks :) Mon Sep 18 22:11:49 -0700 2006 1845681 41543 edmchickie69 2 4624173 Thank you HC for reminding me of a lost recipe for copying Heath Bars. I think we used one cup of white sugar and a half lb butter. Thats all, except for a jar of peanut butter. Just melt the sugar and butter and heat and stir until the mixture is the EXACT COLOR of the peanut butter. Then pour the mix on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. Then cover with chocolate. Quite simple, really. Fri Apr 24 01:09:51 -0700 2009 1845681 10483 Joebob 1 1845755 RESULTS AND PHOTO Thanks HungryCelest! You answered my question precisely. Karo=harder candy. I think, for one reason or other, I'm going to need the Karo's. My candy always comes out softer than the recipe describes, even if I add a few degrees to it. Last night, I took the recipe that said cook to 285 and let it go all the way to 300, and it was still soft. Results: I went with the Uncle Phaedrus recipe because I didn't have Karo's. My toffee came out with the sandy, slightly bendy texture of a New Orleans praline. I love pralines, so it tasted fine to me. But I'm not sure I can call it toffee. I'm just going to have to hand it to people and say "Here's some candy. You'll eat it and you'll like it." http://www.chezpei.com/2006/08/english-toffee.html Thu Aug 31 15:48:31 -0700 2006 1844829 11577 Pei 2 1845768 What is your ratio of sugar to butter? Thu Aug 31 15:50:36 -0700 2006 1845755 12023 Hungry Celeste 3 1846030 The recipe was 1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar to a stick (1/2 cup) butter. Too much butter? I also stirred in my nuts at the end before pouring the candy out, instead of pouring the candy onto nuts. Maybe my nuts weren't dry enough? They were slightly browned around the edges and crunched easily, but maybe there was a little moisture left in them. Thu Aug 31 17:13:17 -0700 2006 1845768 11577 Pei 1 1846213 No, not too much butter, in fact maybe too much sugar...I don't add the nuts to the toffee b/c they break up the toffee & encourage crystallization of the sugar (the praline-y texture you described). Don't stir the mixture too much either, as this will also encourage sugar crystal formation. Next time, try sprinkling the nuts on top after it has set for a minute or so. Thu Aug 31 18:13:52 -0700 2006 1844829 12023 Hungry Celeste 2 1846324 I see. That must be why for peanut brittle the peanuts are added a few minutes before the mixture is hot enough to be poured out. Thanks! I've decided to call my candy pralines and enjoy them as such. It's all in the name... Thu Aug 31 18:41:44 -0700 2006 1846213 11577 Pei 1 1846536 http://www.landolakes.com/mealIdeas/ViewRecipe.cfm?RecipeID=3767 This recipe works for me. Your toffee looks beautiful! Thu Aug 31 19:35:51 -0700 2006 1844829 11540 mochi mochi 1 1846969 My recipe (not original) takes the toffee to 320, past hard crack stage. the texture is nice, not tooth-sticky, and always gets raves. I was asked by a pastry chef for the recipe). here are a few words from last year, holiday time, when candy recipes were flying back and forth like crazy! The entire recipe was posted but I can't look for it (at work). Good luck!! http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/281890?user_name=&query=toodie+jane+english+toffee My sugestion is use the freshest butter and freshest nuts you can find.(toast your own, Trader joe's not often very fresh) Thu Aug 31 21:47:13 -0700 2006 1844829 11234 toodie jane 1 4241436 When I make English Toffee, Ihave a problem with the chocolate not sticking to the caramel after cooling. When I break the candy into pieces, the chocolate layer separates from the caramel. What am I doing wrong? Fri Dec 12 07:13:40 -0800 2008 1844829 247922 spuggy 2 4613185 You need to pat the excess butter off of the toffee using a paper towel after you pour the candy in the pan to cool. Also, try scoring the toffee with the back of a knife while it is still a little soft. This will allow the chocolate to stick and make it easier to crack the toffee into pieces when cooled. Mon Apr 20 18:05:47 -0700 2009 4241436 284746 gamergirl 3 4621956 gamergirl I've been making a toffee recipe every year for about 20 years. Just in the past 5 or so, the butter starts to separate out of the caramel at about 240 degrees or so. I stir and stir, and finally at about 310 it starts to re emulsify, but only partially. Then when I pour the toffee, it hardens with a sheen of fat, which I towel off, but still am having problems with the chocolate sticking when I break it. I''ve never scored the toffee, does this also help in the breaking-up process? Thu Apr 23 10:33:46 -0700 2009 4613185 11234 toodie jane 1 4241589 I made a macadamia nut toffee twice this season with great results. The recipe that I used has Karo and baking soda in it, brought the sugar mixture up to 285, results: crisp and not bendable. I also poured the candy onto a silpat mat which makes for easy release and cleanup! Fri Dec 12 08:07:32 -0800 2008 1844829 14847 lnyc 2 4621967 This is a nut brittle, but not a toffee. Still outrageously good! Thu Apr 23 10:36:20 -0700 2009 4241589 11234 toodie jane