My grandmother makes her almond brickle every year for the holidays. In my time, I have been known to put away a goodly amount of almond brickle (I have absolutely no restraint when it comes to holiday sweets). I'm not privy to the almond brickle recipe, but if I had to guess, it's a kissing cousin of this toffee recipe. With that in mind, I was very excited to make this toffee for SMS this week. Unfortunately, my grandmother would say that "I goofed." Yup, this is a candy-making fail. I don't know anything about candy making, but I followed the instructions exactly. I think that I ruined it sometime around the baking soda. That's when it all seemed to go awry anyway. So, if anyone has any helpful hints on making this toffee, send them my way!As you can see, I have some seriously crystalized toffee. In fact, this was a toffee fail, in my opinion. Thanks to Kaitlin, of Kait's Plate, for choosing this week's recipe. It was fun to try, and I may try to make this again some day!
Thanks, everyone, for all of the helpful comments on candy making. Believe me, I'm taking notes. I do actually have a very nice digital candy thermometer, it's this one, and I did cook it to exactly 290 degrees on that thermometer. I did have some issues moving quickly enough spreading the toffee out. It took me longer than it should have to stir in the baking soda and vanilla. I was worried that the baking soda didn't get distributed, so I stirred it around, I think too much, and then I think it cooled too much before I got it in the pan. Thanks for the tips. I'll make candy again at some point . . . but I'm not in a big hurry!
12 comments:
Jessica, it looks like the temperature did not go high enough while you were bringing the brown sugar mixture up to 290.
I would suggest that if you can get your hands on a digital thermometer that goes up to 290, you might be able to check the accuracy of your candy thermometer.
It is also possible that because of the depth of your pan the toffee part did not cool down fast enough to turn solid. (Your photos appear to have a much deeper brown sugar layer than Kaitlin's photograph, as well as a thicker chocolate layer.)
You said that you think that something happened around the baking soda addition, so I am wondering what made you feel that way....
Patricia in Texas
Oh, I feel your pain. Failures like this annoy me no end. Caramel making is stressful enough; I might just keep on buying my toffee!
In a matter of seconds something could wrong with this recipe. Maybe try again around the holidays?
I wish I had some advice to offer but I'm not exactly sure why mine worked. Recipe fails are so frustrating so I wish you'd had better luck. I think it's time to try your grandmother's recipe - maybe she'd have some tips?
Hi Jessica!
Sorry it's been so long since I've stopped by and said hello- things have been really crazy, but I have really missed talking with you each week after SMS postings. I hope you're doing well and would love to hear from you soon.
I'm so sorry your toffee didn't turn out as expected, but if it makes you feel any better, you are NOT alone. My first batch was an absolute disaster, and I ended up with 3 lbs of chocolate/almond covered crystallized sugar. I didn't want to end my candy making experience on a bad note, so I did some research, found another recipe, and gave it a go. Thankfully it came out fabulous! If you have a chance, check out my post (which includes the other recipe) along with a whole list of tips and tricks that will help ensure success. Let me know if you decide to give it another shot!
Hope you have a fantastic start to your week!
<3,
Joy
Too bad your toffee didn't turn out like you wanted it to, but at least your tried.
Hello Jessica!
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Hilary
hilary.ratner@deiworldwide.com
Your toffee looks great, sorry it was disappointing. This was a tough recipe; I noticed the baking soda wasn't really incorporating well in mine either.
looks like we had the saaaaame problem :) but i bet it was still tasty ;)
The baking soda moment was a stressful one, wasn't it! I had the opposite problem, my toffee was ever so slightly burned... It was still awfully tasty, though! If you hadn't said something, I wouldn't have been able to tell that you had toffee trouble, it looks great!
The pictures of your toffee look good. Sorry this wasn't a good recipe for you.
Aww, I'm sorry that this didn't work out for you. It's very frustrating when candy-making goes awry; all that work and a disappointing result. I think the key is to have the baking soda sitting there, already measured out, ready to dump in quickly.
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