Easy Brown Sugar Toffee Recipe | CDKitchen.com (2024)

FAQs

How do I know when my toffee is ready? ›

Cook until the toffee registers 285-290 degrees on an instant-read or candy thermometer and is deep amber brown in color, about 20-25 minutes. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the toffee evenly over the nuts on the prepared baking sheet – don't scrape the sides of the pan.

Taste is obvious: sweets made with dark brown sugar will have a slightly deeper flavor with those notes of caramel and toffee I mentioned.

Low and slow

Simmering the syrup for English toffee to the requisite 300°F temperature can (and should) be a slow process — up to 20 minutes or so. Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture.

Why didn't my toffee turn brown? It will turn brown if the heat is med-high and you cook it for 5-6 minutes. Crank up that heat, don't let it simmer on low. It will start out yellow, then become light brown, then finally the right brown paper brown that you are looking for.

For cooking: cook the toffee until it turns nutty brown. Don't stop cooking it until it's brown. Stop cooking it immediately as soon as it's brown.

Toffee Making Tips + Troubleshooting

Your toffee is better off overcooked than undercooked! Undercooked toffee won't be anything more than a caramel sauce. But overcooked toffee will be just slightly crunchier (almost unrecognizably). So, always err on the side of over-cooking!

Brittles and toffees accumulate small amounts of acid from the browning reactions that occur during cooking. This is one reason why the baking soda is added at the end of cooking. The soda reacts with the acid to make bubbles, and the syrup foams.

Once boiling, cook, stirring only 2 to 3 times, until it turns a dark amber color and the temperature reaches 285 degrees F (137 degrees C) on a candy thermometer, 20 to 30 minutes.

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).

What is the best pan for making toffee? ›

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.

Americanized toffee may include nuts, while a completely traditional British toffee will not. On the other hand, English toffee uses pure cane sugar, brown sugar, or molasses as its sweet base and always involves chocolate.

Made with just sugar and a little water, toffee is easy to make and is an easy introduction to the world of confectionary. This recipe includes a dash of vinegar which will help keep the colour of the toffee clear and bright and banish any cloudiness.

How to Fix It. If your candy separates during the cooking process there is a chance you can save it. Sometimes separated toffee or caramel can be saved by removing the saucepan from the heat and stirring constantly until it comes back together into a smooth mixture. Gradually return it to the heat, stirring constantly.

Sometimes some of the butter separates out of the toffee and concentrates on the surface. If it does, the chocolate isn't going to adhere to the toffee. Try blotting up the butter with paper towels - the surface should be matte, rather than shiny. Then you can spread the layer of chocolate on top.

Toffee is a hard candy made by cooking a sugar syrup with butter to the hard crack stage, 300–310°F (149–154°C), and then pouring it out to cool. It can have inclusions or not, and it can be made either very dense and hard or can be lightened by adding baking soda when the candy is almost done cooking .

Most people agree that toffee is cooked to soft crack stage, which is at temperature of 135°C – 140°C (275°F – 284°F), or hard crack stage which occurs at temperature of 145°C – 155°C (293°F – 311°F). More precisely, this candy is usually cooked at temperatures from 140°C – 150°C (284°F – 302°F).

Ideally toffee has a nice snap when you bite into it, but then it gives way to a tender texture that immedietly crumbles and dissolves in your mouth. Even though I add a tremendous amount of butter to my recipe, the texture I end up with is more like a hard candy that ultimately sticks to your teeth.

Many home candy makers determine the soft-crack stage by dropping a spoonful of hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water. Remove the candy from the water and pull it apart between your fingers. The soft crack stage has been reached when the syrup forms a firm but pliable threads.