English Toffee Candy FAQs (2024)

FAQs

English Toffee Candy FAQs? ›

+ What is the shelf life? Three months unopened, if stored in a cool dry place. + Can it be refrigerated? Yes, but it needs to be set out of the refrigerator to bring to room temperature before serving.

For maximum taste and texture, we do recommend that you either enjoy your toffee immediately, or store it in a refrigerator or freezer. Once opened, unrefrigerated product will retain maximum freshness for about a week. Refrigeration adds 3-6 months of shelf life, while freezing adds up to a year or more.

English toffee is a sweet candy that people make from sugar, butter, and almonds. It has a crunchy texture and a buttery, nutty flavor. English toffee is also known as butter crunch or almond crunch. It originated in England in the late 1800s.

If the sugar mixture is not cooked to the proper temperature (the hard-crack stage 300-310° F {149-154° C.} or if you are working in a kitchen with high humidity, chances are your candy is retaining too much moisture.

Toffee is a hard candy made by cooking a sugar syrup with butter to the hard crack stage, 300–310°F (149–154°C), and then pouring it out to cool. It can have inclusions or not, and it can be made either very dense and hard or can be lightened by adding baking soda when the candy is almost done cooking .

Low and slow. Simmering the syrup for English toffee to the requisite 300°F temperature can (and should) be a slow process — up to 20 minutes or so. Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture.

After the chocolate bits melt, gently spread them evenly. Then, sprinkle the chocolate with half of the nut mixture. Cool the toffee, uncovered, in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or until it hardens.

Stirring too quickly or too often can cause the toffee to separate. Moderate the heat as needed – turn it down if the toffee is boiling or cooking too fast so it doesn't burn. Cook until the toffee registers 285-290 degrees on an instant-read or candy thermometer and is deep amber brown in color, about 20-25 minutes.

Americanized toffee may include nuts, while a completely traditional British toffee will not. On the other hand, English toffee uses pure cane sugar, brown sugar, or molasses as its sweet base and always involves chocolate.

The English toffee eaten with regularity in America is also called buttercrunch. What's the difference? Primarily, the difference rests in the ingredients. Toffee in Britain is made with brown sugar, whereas buttercrunch is made with white granulated sugar.

Why is my English toffee grainy? ›

As the toffee cools and the molten sugar crystals become solid again, they are attracted to the 'seed' forming new lumps of tiny crystals – hence the grainy texture. This can also happen if the toffee is stirred, or agitated, after it has begun to boil or on cooling (as happened with this pink-tinted toffee).

Your toffee is getting sticky because it isn't coated in chocolate to protect it from the moisture in the air. If you want to make uncoated toffee pieces and store them, then you need to put it in an air-tight container with some dessicant.

Toffee Making Tips + Troubleshooting

Undercooked toffee won't be anything more than a caramel sauce. But overcooked toffee will be just slightly crunchier (almost unrecognizably). So, always err on the side of over-cooking!

Conservatively, our toffee will keep well in the refrigerator for three weeks (take care to guard against moisture getting to it), and three months in the freezer. In practice, many of our customers keep a supply of toffee on hand in the freezer for those unanticipated occasions like house gifts and bridge parties.

Toffee's buttery flavor goes great with a bowl of plain vanilla or chocolate ice cream. You can break up smaller pieces of toffee, and sprinkle them on top of your ice cream or mix them in with it. For a smoother topping, melt some toffee and pour it on your ice cream.

Toffee is easy to keep and store, and needs no special treatment. Just place it in an airtight container, and store in a cool, dry place. Toffee can generally last up to two months if stored correctly, and away from heat.

Does Coffee Expire? Similar to some other food items like chocolate and spices, coffee does not have an expiration date in the traditional sense. This is because coffee beans, when stored properly, do not spoil or become harmful to consume. However, coffee can go stale over time, which can affect its flavor and aroma.

The Almond Toffee is shipped frozen and travels very well even during the summertime when the candy will thaw during transit. We recommend refreezing or refrigerating the toffee upon receipt so the candy will return to proper consistency before serving.