While visiting Hereghty’s Heavenly Delicious Patisserie in Raleigh, NC, one could not miss the wrapped toffee displayed on their showcase.
Though Hereghty’s beautiful tarts and cakes were calling much louder than the toffee, one must venture on for more info about such a treat. The toffee sold at Hereghty’s is hand made by Chapel Hill Toffee in Chapel Hill, NC. It is a creation using their toffee recipe, dark chocolate, and pecans.
Delicious toffee is hard to forget! Toffee is basically a mixture of sugar (white or brown) and butter. Recipes vary widely and may include other ingredients like molasses, corn syrup, salt, flour, water, nuts, and vanilla. The butter and sugar mix is boiled to various stages (temperature) depending on how firm or soft an end product is desired. The toffee is then typically coated with chocolate and nuts. Some versions of toffee are hard while other toffee products may be soft and chewy.
Cooking toffee is tricky! If the toffee is not allowed to reach a certain temperature, the end result will be crumbly with a grainy consistency. If allowed to cook too long, it will burn to a bitter mess. It is important when making toffee to have all ingredients and utensils ready. A candy thermometer is also an important requirement.
While it is nice and time-efficient to buy homemade toffee, you may find yourself needing to make some quick! The recipe and video below is for English toffee, toffee made with almonds…..then smothered with chocolate and more almonds! It is even more delicious than the infamous “Almond Roca!” This recipe is super simple and super yummy.
Sugar and chocolate are quite sensitive to heat and humidity. I wouldn’t recommend making this candy in the summer time unless you can control heat / humidity to keep the room cool (about 68-70 degrees F) with low humidity.
Sugar is very hot when boiled, so be careful! Have all your tools and ingredients ready to use. Once sugar turns to a dark caramel, you must work quickly to spread it on the pan……before it burns in the pot….before it sets on the sheet pan.
INGREDIENTS
Set 1
2.5 c. crushed almonds, with skin, unsalted, dry roasted (buy the almonds whole…then crush)
Set 2
6 regular sized bars of Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, broken at the scored lines of the bar (I don’t recommend using a store brand of chocolate! In fact, I would prefer to use Dove milk or semi-sweet chocolate when possible.)
Set 3
3 sticks SALTED butter
1.5 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
TOOLS: 1 non-stick pot (at least 5 inches deep), long, large wooden spoon, spreading / baking spatula, half a stainless steel or aluminum sheet pan (at least a 1 inch lip, larger than a 9x13), cooling rack or trivets, 2 Ziploc freezer bags, wax paper, meat tenderizer or hammer, candy thermometer (optional)
For more info: 919-781-5850, 2603 Glenwood Ave., Suite 123, Raleigh, NC 27608. info@hereghty.com
Hours: Mon. – Thurs. 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. / Fri. & Sat. 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. / Sunday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Nearby businesses: Synergy Spa Calm and Sense
REFERENCE
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 27 February 2010. Wikimedia Foundation. 8 March 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toffee
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