Problem with english toffee???
 

It was so expensive to make and I had these problems. I cooked the toffee part to soft crack then I poured it over some chopped pecans. In the mean time i melted two pounds of milk chocolate and wait just a little bit ( ten or fifteen minutes) then I pour the chocolate for the toffee and spread nice and put more chopped pecans on and kind of pressed them in the chocolate. Let the pan cool outside and later tried to break all up. Well the chocolate separates from the toffee. What a mess, it tastes all right but when you take a piece you have to take a piece of each. What do you think caused this? The recipe was very vague.:thumbdown::eek:

I cook mine to hard crack stage.....just short of burned. I use butter (not margarine) If there is visible oil from the butter I have problems with the chocolate not sticking. Trial and error is all I can suggest....to many ruined batches would send me to the candy store to buy some....lol

I haven't made it. I use to make perfect peanut brittle. All of a sudden it didn't turn out right, so I stopped.

I pour the toffee out onto a baking sheet, let it set a minute, then scatter the chopped chocolate on top(or use chocolate chips). The heat of the toffee melts the chocolate. When its melted you spread it over the toffee and then sprinkle on the nuts. Press the nuts into the chocolate. It still comes off a little, but I figure it tastes so good who's going to complain.

I love toffee and chocolate. You want me to come over and help you clean the mess? Hahahahaha!

Once you find the perfect recipe, please post it. It sounds yummy!

I haven't made it in years ...but I sure do love it...too much!!

I made some a few days ago, I let it cook to about 290-300 degrees. I put foil on my counter with chopped pecans one it, I poured the toffee over and immediately put chocolate chips on top, when they were glossy I spread the chocolate around, turned our perfect, for the first time I made it..

My recipe calls for it to be "hard crack" stage... or it will be like taffy not toffee -- use a candy thermometer, not the string/water test

Add your nuts to the toffee in the pan RIGHT before you pour it into the pan...if you put them in too soon, they get mushy.

Butter (or spray with non stick spray) the pan you are going to pour your toffee into -- I use a jelly roll type pan.

As soon as you pour your toffee, sprinkle the chocolate chips on the toffee...let it set for about 30 seconds and then gently spread the chocolate chips over the toffee.

Sprinkle your nuts over the chocolate chips you just spread out. The chocolate has to still be very warm or the nuts won't stick.

Unless you are making a "HUGE" amount of toffee, 2 pounds of chocolate is way too much.

1 cup oleo
1 Tablespoon corn syrup
1 1/3 cup white sugar
3 Tablespoon water
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup sliced almonds or pecans
1/2 cup sliced almonds or pecans

In a heavy saucepan that has been sprayed with non stick spray, melt oleo then add sugar and stir well. Add corn syrup and water.

Stir often with wooden spoon to keep mixture from scorching.

Cook over medium heat until candy thermometer reads 300 or hard crack stage.

Remove from heat and add 1/3 cup nuts and mix well.

Be extremely careful and pour the mixture into prepared pan. Using wooden spoon spread the toffee out to the thickness you want (think thin)

Sprinkle chips over toffee, let set a minute to soften and spread chips -- sprinkle remainder of nuts over chocolate chips.

Let set until cool and break into pieces.

I did use butter. I made it along time ago and it was perfect. Who knows.

Did you check your thermometer to check to see if it registers 212 degrees when water boils. Makes a big difference on how the candy turns out

I have read from several people that cooling it too fast will cause the chocolate to separate from the toffee. One person commented she had put hers in the freezer to cool and the chocolate popped right off. Another person added they thought it was because the chocolate cooled too fast that caused it to separate. These comments were on a recipe site where I was reading the Saltine Toffee recipe, but the problem was the same with the chocolate layer separating from the toffee layer.

Very good information, thank you!

What's oleo?

"Oleo" is an old time word that means "margarine". I don't know why it fell out of fashion, probably because of advertizing.

One reason that candy recipes might fail according to Joy of Cooking is high humidity. They recommend making candy on clear, dry days.

I have made a similar English toffee recipe many times. I clipped it from a newspaper more than 30 years ago. Instead of a temperature, it simply says to cook it until it turns the color of a brown paper bag. Then you pour it into your foil lined jellyroll pan and quickly sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. In one minute they will be melted enough to spread with the back of a spoon, and then you sprinkle the chopped nuts over the chocolate. Only one time did the oil separate out of the mixture and cause problems, and I'm not sure why it happened. Since then I avoid making it on humid days.

I think your problem was the wait before you put the chocolate on. The butter in the candy had time to rise to the top making a protective layer. Put the chocolate on after only a minute or two. I second not rushing the cooling.

I purchased an industrial candy thermometer at a restaurant supply store and have been supplying my happy family with homemade Almond Roca for the last 3 weeks or so. The recipe sounds the same - I coat a cookie sheet with butter, sprinkle almonds on the butter. Cook the sugar/butter/corn syrup/water to 290°, just before hard crack. Pour over the almonds, then sprinkle with semi-sweet chips. Wait a few minutes for the chips to melt, then spread.

NOW. Here comes my twist. Instead of sprinkling chopped almonds on top of the chocolate, I tried sprinkling a little bit of coarse sea salt on top. OMG it was soooo good! My 19 year old son said it was the best ever, and it disappeared so fast my husband didn't get any and I had to make a second batch.

The recipe I use calls for sprinkling chocolate chips atop the toffee mixture and covering with a cookie sheet for a few minutes. When melted, spread the melted chocolate evenly over the toffee.

I started sprinkling sea salt on top, instead of crushed almonds. Omg. Put that toffee right over the top. I made 12 batches between Christmas and about a week ago, when I broke my candy thermometer. Everywhere I went, people gobbled that stuff up.

I can remember my mother making "oleo"; must have been right after WWll. She would take, what I guess was, lard purchased from the grocery store, and then mix a little package of coloring that came with the lard together until well mixed. I was fascinated by the lard turning from white to blue to orange to finally yellow, and each area was a different color until the whole thing was mixed and all yellow. Don't know if there was other oleo than came premixed.

JBeamer - that was probably uncolored margarine that came with the color packet. Wisconsin prohibited the sale of margarine that was colored to look like butter, so you had to mix the color in yourself. Other states may have had the same prohibition.