little black journal

It’s December, and I’ve got the baking bug, so I spent this afternoon whipping up a batch of my most favorite almond toffee.  I only make this at Christmas-time (see the copious amounts of butter used and you’ll understand why), so it’s an extra-special treat.  Recipe below, in case you’re also tossing out any notions of a holiday diet…

Chocolate-Covered Almond Toffee (recipe adapted from here):

10 ounces chopped, toasted almonds (almonds can be toasted on a baking sheet at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup rum
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces

Place sugar in a small deep saucepan. Add the corn syrup and rum and, over medium heat, bring to a boil.  Let boil until large bubbles form on the surface, 3 to 4 minutes.  Cover with foil and boil 5 minutes longer.  Add the pieces of butter and continue cooking, uncovered, over medium heat until temperature reaches 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and immediately add the salt, baking soda, and 1 cup of chopped nuts. Stir until well combined.  Pour the toffee mixture on an oiled baking tray and spread the mixture out, making a block about 10 by 13 inches.  While the toffee mixture is cooling, melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl placed over simmering water*.  Keep warm.  When you can lift up the block of toffee, transfer it to a flat work surface or to a clean baking tray*. Pour the melted chocolate over the toffee and sprinkle with the remaining chopped nuts. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes to set the chocolate.  Cut into pieces of desired size.

***LESSONS LEARNED:  Today was not my day kitchen-wise, and though I’ve made this recipe several times before, I somehow managed to royally screw a couple of things up.  Take heed:  1) Melting chocolate is a sensitive process.  I set my metal bowl over the pan of simmering water, but neglected it for just a moment and it turned into a solid, chunky mess.  The stove should be on low, and the chocolate should be stirred constantly until melted.  Thank goodness for my extra chocolate stash.  Crisis averted.  2) This one is embarrassingly obvious, but do not (I repeat DO NOT) set your block of toffee on a sheet of wax paper to cool.  I meant to grab the roll of parchment paper, but instead grabbed the wax paper, and when I went to lift my block of toffee to transfer it to a plate, the paper stuck to the bottom and was impossible to peel off in places.  This whoopsie forced me to toss out nearly half my batch.  What a shameful waste of good butter…

Mishaps aside, this is good stuff.  Happy holidays!