A lot of people who love toffee might find they have a hard time describing it.
On one hand this could be because their teeth are stuck together from eating the sugary, buttery candy. On the other hand, toffee means different things to people, making a one-size-fits-all description hard to apply.
In any sweets-eating season, toffee is worth arguing about. The candy may be old-fashioned–precisely what makes it extra comforting at the holidays–but it also lends itself to a variety of forms and fillings.
Some fans insist that their favorite treat be composed of a nutty, hard-crack bar, enrobed in a coating of thick milk chocolate. The classic nuts for toffee are almonds, but pistachios, hazelnuts and macadamias also can add nubble to the confection. Plenty of people like the chocolate coating, but also insist on a flourish of crushed nuts sprinkled all over it.
Robin Halpert of Buffalo Grove got into the game quite by accident, when a toffee she was making for a party failed miserably. She saved the confection by tossing crushed Oreos and ribbons of white chocolate over the whole thing. Her creation was such a success that she started a business, Toffee Break Gourmet Desserts, which just opened a retail store in Northbrook.
“People get excited about the different flavors,” Halpert said. “I call it interactive toffee; people will be with their spouses or friends and say, ‘Did you try this one? Did you try that one?’ “
Toffee Break now features 13 varieties, infused with coffee beans, studded with brownie pieces and flaked with toasted coconut. The traditional kind, she said, is always popular.
A purist view
Carole Bloom, a Carlsbad, Calif., author of many books on confections, prefers the classic variety.
“I am a real purist on flavor,” she said. “But people are into combining a lot of things in there these days.”
To add to the debate, one camp simply sees toffee as a flavoring, not a candy. The bountiful blend of brown sugar and butter, a dark, rich, caramel temptation, is hard to resist. It can give depth to a cake, a shake or a sticky toffee pudding, a meltingly soft, steamed cake favored by the British.
The English, in fact, are so well known for their toffee that the classic candy is credited to their nation in dozens of recipes and commercial forms.
“In my mind, toffee is one of the quintessential British candies,” said Beth Kimmerle, author of the new book “Candy: A Sweet History” (Collector’s Press, $35). “We are more likely to associate taffy with American sweets.”
Toffees initially were “sort of spooned out” into small candies, Kimmerle said in an interview from her home in New York City. The most well-known shape, a chocolate-covered rectangular bar, became an American favorite after the Heath brothers established Heath Brothers Confectionery in downstate Robinson, Ill., in 1914.
Commercially produced toffee has become popular, especially in recent years, because home candymaking has generally fallen out of fashion. Toffee also has the perception of being tricky to fashion.
“If you are a few degrees off in temperature, you have brittle” instead of toffee, Kimmerle said. “If it is a couple of degrees too low, you have a soft lump.”
But with a little attention and a candy thermometer, toffeemaking is not difficult.
Kimmerle makes the point that crackly confections such as brittle and toffee can be hard to tell apart because of the way hot sugar takes shape in the pan. The melted mixture can start as syrup, heat to the tenderest caramel, then toffee, and soon it becomes easily shattered brittle. The results have mostly to do with time and temperature; the base ingredient, sugar, is varied only slightly by the addition of butter or cream.
The boiled sugar styles we know today are a mere handful compared to the confections that took their varied whimsical shapes in England, where these candies were first popularized. Tim Richardson, in his book “Sweets: A History of Candy,” mentions treacle balls, bulls-eyes and squibs, all made with molasses, along with hardbake (toffee) and yellowman (a honeycombed toffee).
But now the toffee tide is turning, with free-form flavors–think liqueurs and every nut possible–finding a receptive audience.
Online retailers are full of toffee twists. Toffeesensations.com sells candy dotted with everything from peanut butter and white chocolate to crushed peppermint and espresso. Texastoffeeco.com makes its product with pecans, not the traditional almonds, and englishteastore.com sells a toffee slab–only an Englishman could love?–sweetened with treacle, the molasses-like syrup with a bitter edge.
In any case, here’s an opportunity to put your own stamp on the candy by making it yourself. Go nuts, pour on the flavor, and have fun. This is one of those projects, as Halpert knows, where even the mistakes are good to eat.
Getting it right
Toffeemaking can require a little extra care in timing.
Instructions may call for the melted sugar mixture to reach a set temperature, so you will need a candy thermometer, available at kitchen and housewares stores and some supermarkets for $20 to $35. To make brittle confections, the sugar needs to reach what is called the “hard crack” stage. On a candy thermometer, this is about 300 degrees. Pull the pan of sugar off the stove about 15 degrees or so before that, because the intense heat of the cooked sugar will make the temperature continue to rise.
If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can test for the hard crack stage by dropping a teaspoon or so of the sugar mixture into a bowl of cold water. The mixture should separate into threads that are hard and brittle.
Once you are ready to go, here are some more useful tips, adapted from “Making Great Candy,” by Laura Dover Doran:
Give yourself an ample amount of time. Candymaking often requires slow cooking, constant stirring and undivided attention. If you are rushed, postpone the project until another day.
Weather makes a difference. A perfect day for making candy is a clear, cool one. This is especially true of candies with a sugar-syrup base.
For best results, begin with butter that is room temperature.
If possible, clean up immediately after making candy. Hardened sugar syrups can be difficult to remove from pans and other surfaces. Reheat the candy residue in the pan to soften it, or soak mixing bowls with hot water. Use hot water and mild soap to remove hardened sugar from surfaces.
— Kristin Eddy
Macadamia nut toffee
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Cooling time: 30 minutes
Yield: 60 pieces
New York pastry master Francois Payard writes in his cookbook, “Simply Sensational Desserts,” that he is “wild about caramel.” This particular confection is served without a chocolate topping. You may substitute any nut as desired.
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 3/4 cups finely chopped macadamias or other nuts
1. Combine sugar, cream and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan. Heat to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Insert a candy thermometer into the syrup; boil without stirring until mixture reaches 284 degrees, about 20 minutes.
2. Remove from heat; stir in nuts. Spread toffee onto buttered baking sheet with sides, working quickly. Let cool in the pan on a rack, 30 minutes. Break into irregular pieces. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition information per piece:
84 calories, 66% of calories from fat, 6.5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 7 mg cholesterol, 7 g carbohydrates, 0.6 g protein, 3 mg sodium, 0.5 g fiber
Coffee toffee
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Cooling time: 30 minutes
Yield: 60 pieces
Here’s a classic toffee but with a caffeine kick from the addition of coffee and chocolate. Developed in the Tribune test kitchen.
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup each: granulated sugar, light brown sugar
1/4 cup brewed coffee
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup slivered almonds, roughly chopped
8 ounces good-quality dark chocolate
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or walnuts, optional
1. Combine butter, sugars, coffee, corn syrup and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Insert a candy thermometer into the syrup; boil without stirring until mixture turns a caramel color and reaches 280 degrees, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in slivered almonds. Spread mixture onto buttered cookie sheet with sides, working quickly; allow to cool, about 30 minutes.
2. Melt chocolate in a saucepan. Pour melted chocolate over cooled toffee; spread evenly. Sprinkle with nuts; cool completely. Break into pieces. Store in airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition information per piece:
81 calories, 58% of calories from fat, 5.5 g fat, 2.6 g saturated fat, 8 mg cholesterol, 8 g carbohydrates, 0.8 g protein, 12 mg sodium, 0.6 g fiber
Toffee dream pie
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Cooling/chilling time: 3 1/2 hours
Yield: 8 servings
This recipe was a Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest winner in 1964, courtesy of Marion L. Maire of Avon Lake, Ohio. Even almost 40 years later, this pie is likely to make toffee lovers happy. Adapted from “Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook.” We used Heath candy bars for this recipe.
32 large marshmallows, about 8 ounces
1/3 cup milk
3 toffee candy bars (1.4 ounces each), finely chopped
1 cup whipping cream
1 baked 9-inch pie crust, cooled
2 tablespoons chopped toasted almonds, optional, see note
1. Combine marshmallows and milk in a heavy saucepan; cook, stirring constantly, over low heat until marshmallows are melted, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Add chopped toffee bars; stir until partially melted. Refrigerate until mixture is thickened but not set, about 20 minutes.
3. Beat whipping cream to soft peaks in a mixing bowl. Fold whipped cream into marshmallow mixture. Spoon into pie crust. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. Garnish with almonds.
Note: To toast chopped almonds, place on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350-degree oven until light brown, about 4-6 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving:
360 calories, 52% of calories from fat, 21 g fat, 11.5 g saturated fat, 49 mg cholesterol, 41 g carbohydrates, 2.6 g protein, 180 mg sodium, 0.4 g fiber
Pecan toffee coffeecake
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Cooling time: 1 hour
Yield: 20 servings
In her cookbook, “In The Sweet Kitchen,” author Regan Daley writes, “This simple coffeecake exceeds all expectations.” Tasters in the test kitchen agreed. Use your favorite commercial toffee or homemade toffee.
Filling:
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 cup each: toffee pieces, chopped toasted pecans, see note
Cake:
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons each: baking powder, ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon each: freshly grated nutmeg, baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups sour cream
3/4 cup toffee pieces
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. For filling, combine sugars with espresso powder in bowl of a food processor; pulse to grind. Place in a mixing bowl with cocoa; mix until well blended. Stir in toffee and pecans; set aside.
2. For cake, sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl; set aside. Combine butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer; beat on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
3. Mix in flour mixture in three additions just to blend, alternating with sour cream in two additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in toffee pieces. Spoon one-third of the batter into a greased and floured 10-inch bundt pan. Spread batter evenly over bottom with a teaspoon; make a small well all the way around the center to cradle the filling. Spoon half of the filling into the well; do not let it touch sides or center of pan. Add another third of the batter; repeat process with filling. Top with remaining batter. Rap the pan on the counter once or twice to remove trapped air bubbles.
4. Bake until cake is golden brown and center springs back lightly when touched, about 1 hour. Cool pan on a rack 5-7 minutes. Invert onto another rack; let cool completely, about 1 hour. Sift confectioners’ sugar over top to decorate. Cake may be stored, well wrapped, 2 or 3 days.
Note: To toast pecans, place on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350-degree oven until light brown, about 4-6 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving:
365 calories, 44% of calories from fat, 18g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 68 mg cholesterol, 48g carbohydrates, 4 g protein, 244 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
