English Toffee, need help!

JeanineAlyse in 29 Palms said:

Please, one of you candy makers rescue me for a next make? Tonight I
made the same exact "family" English toffee I'd at least twenty times
before, though not in several years now. It's my great grandmother's
very simple recipe, and I followed it to the letter:

Heat 2 cups butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
Heat on low flame, stirring to a boil; stop stirring until 236

degrees;

Quoted message said:

stir constant until 290 degrees; remove from stove to quickly whip in
3/4 teaspoon baking soda, then pour out onto greased cookie sheet;
sprinkle 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips over, spread when melted, then
gently press chopped nuts onto melted chocolate; cool before breaking
into pieces.

Tonight the toffee was made exactly that way, with those exact
ingredients and temperatures, yet it did not come out as "snappy" as
always before. It did break as normal, but the toffee consistency is
the stick to your teeth sort instead of crumbly. What could be wrong

or

Quoted message said:

changed to be sure of snappy once again?

Picky ~JA~

It is possible that the weather made the difference. Temperature and
humidity levels can have a HUGE impact on candy results. Wait until
the weather changes, and try again!

JeanineAlyse in 29 Palms said:

Please, one of you candy makers rescue me for a next make? Tonight I
made the same exact "family" English toffee I'd at least twenty times
before, though not in several years now. It's my great grandmother's
very simple recipe, and I followed it to the letter:

Heat 2 cups butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
Heat on low flame, stirring to a boil; stop stirring until 236 degrees;
stir constant until 290 degrees; remove from stove to quickly whip in
3/4 teaspoon baking soda, then pour out onto greased cookie sheet;
sprinkle 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips over, spread when melted, then
gently press chopped nuts onto melted chocolate; cool before breaking
into pieces.

Tonight the toffee was made exactly that way, with those exact
ingredients and temperatures, yet it did not come out as "snappy" as
always before. It did break as normal, but the toffee consistency is
the stick to your teeth sort instead of crumbly. What could be wrong or
changed to be sure of snappy once again?

Several possibilities:
1) thermometer not accurate.
2) very humid
3) very dry
4) mismeasurement
5) different chocolate chips than in the past
6) baking soda weak
7) baking powder instead

There are too many variables to pinpoint one in particular, but these
are what I'd look at.

Pastorio

[email hidden] Bob Pastorio offers:

Quoted message said:

Several possibilities:
1) thermometer not accurate.
2) very humid
3) very dry
4) mismeasurement
5) different chocolate chips than in the
past
6) baking soda weak
7) baking powder instead
There are too many variables to pinpoint
one in particular, but these are what I'd
look at.

Interesting. I did pop in a second, older and harder to read
thermometer than my new Polder one because I thought the getting to
temps was taking far longer than I remembered. The second one
continually registered about five degrees lower than the first, so I
relied on the Polder. Temperature here in my desert was 74 degrees,
with humidity at 33%. I'd bet this high humidity was a good part of the
chewy cause. Measurements were double checked, chips were same as
always used, baking soda as called for, and not even one month old.

Because of mention to someone I've just met that is flying back to her
home far out of state tomorrow, I had made the toffee to bring to her
and the lives here daughter this evening. I was determined to make
another batch today so that I could give, but I'll just call in an
apology instead. This mother and daughter pair see each other
frequently enough that I can try again when weather here gets back to my
favorite 95 degrees and 5% humidity days. Methinks all is solved now,
thanks!

Picky ~JA~

JeanineAlyse in 29 Palms said:

Please, one of you candy makers rescue me for a next make? Tonight I
made the same exact "family" English toffee I'd at least twenty times
before, though not in several years now. It's my great grandmother's
very simple recipe, and I followed it to the letter:

Heat 2 cups butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
Heat on low flame, stirring to a boil; stop stirring until 236

degrees;

Quoted message said:

stir constant until 290 degrees; remove from stove to quickly whip in
3/4 teaspoon baking soda, then pour out onto greased cookie sheet;
sprinkle 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips over, spread when melted, then
gently press chopped nuts onto melted chocolate; cool before breaking
into pieces.

Tonight the toffee was made exactly that way, with those exact
ingredients and temperatures, yet it did not come out as "snappy" as
always before. It did break as normal, but the toffee consistency is
the stick to your teeth sort instead of crumbly. What could be wrong

or

Quoted message said:

changed to be sure of snappy once again?

Picky ~JA~

Sounds like the result of high humidity - here's my recipe -
proportions slightly different, and no salt or baking soda:

Nancy's Toffee Crunch

1 C. butter
1 C. sugar
3 T. water
1 T. corn syrup
1/2 C. coarsely ground almonds
1 C. semi-sweet choc. chips (for the topping)
1/2 C. finely ground almonds

Butter sides of a heavy saucepan. Melt butter. Add sugar, water and
corn syrup, and boil over medium high heat to 290 degrees F.
(soft-crack stage). Remove from heat and stir in the coarsely ground
almonds. Pour into buttered 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan and let cool slightly.

If desired, melt the chips and spread on top the toffee. Sprinkle the
1/2 C. finely ground nuts over the top. Chill thoroughly and break
into pieces.

You can double the choc. chip and finely ground nut measurements, and
after the top side has chilled, you can repeat the chocolate/nut
mixture on the bottom, so both sides of the candy have chocolate on
them.

This recipe doubles easily. When I double it, I put it in a jelly roll
pan (15 x 10 x 1). I use about 2 1/2 C. chocolate chips for the jelly
roll pan size.

If you temper the chocolate, the candy topping will not melt in your
hands as easily -- to temper it, melt half the chocolate chips and
remove from heat. Stir in the other half of the chips, and beat it
until all the chocolate is melted. (Simple method.)

N.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

If desired, melt the chips and spread on top the toffee. Sprinkle the
1/2 C. finely ground nuts over the top. Chill thoroughly and break
into pieces.

You can double the choc. chip and finely ground nut measurements, and
after the top side has chilled, you can repeat the chocolate/nut
mixture on the bottom, so both sides of the candy have chocolate on
them.

Just a thought: don't cover it with the chocolate/nuts, as described in
the 1st paragraph above. Instead, break it into smallish pieces when
cool (or score into 1"x2" or so pieces when warm but set, to ease
breaking when cool), then drop the pieces into melted chocolate, put the
pieces on a cookie sheet, and sprinkle with the nuts. Sort of an Almond
Roca thing. Good for chocophiles.

--
to respond (OT only), change "spamless.invalid" to "optonline.net"

<http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/>

Quoted message said:

Sounds like the result of high humidity - here's my recipe -
proportions slightly different, and no salt or baking soda:

Nancy's Toffee Crunch

1 C. butter
1 C. sugar
3 T. water
1 T. corn syrup
1/2 C. coarsely ground almonds
1 C. semi-sweet choc. chips (for the topping)
1/2 C. finely ground almonds

Butter sides of a heavy saucepan. Melt butter. Add sugar, water and
corn syrup, and boil over medium high heat to 290 degrees F.
(soft-crack stage). Remove from heat and stir in the coarsely ground
almonds. Pour into buttered 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan and let cool slightly.

If desired, melt the chips and spread on top the toffee. Sprinkle the
1/2 C. finely ground nuts over the top. Chill thoroughly and break
into pieces.

You can double the choc. chip and finely ground nut measurements, and
after the top side has chilled, you can repeat the chocolate/nut
mixture on the bottom, so both sides of the candy have chocolate on
them.

This recipe doubles easily. When I double it, I put it in a jelly roll
pan (15 x 10 x 1). I use about 2 1/2 C. chocolate chips for the jelly
roll pan size.

If you temper the chocolate, the candy topping will not melt in your
hands as easily -- to temper it, melt half the chocolate chips and
remove from heat. Stir in the other half of the chips, and beat it
until all the chocolate is melted. (Simple method.)

N.

I have a question or two. When I make toffee, I have experienced some
difficulty with the chocolate adhering to the toffee, especially when
I am breaking up the pieces. Any ideas on this...??

The recipe above appears to have chocolate on the top only. I'm
wondering if this procedure has any advantage over coating it on both
sides with chocolate.

What procedure and tools do you use to break the toffee into bite size
pieces? This is always quite messy for me and it's difficult to
obtain uniform pieces.

Thanks!
Ginny