Homemade sponge toffee - week 10 of 52

This week I thought I would dig out my candy thermometer (see week 4) and try making homemade sponge toffee. I love Crunchie bars and those are the ones I would always save for last from my Halloween candy stash! I found Christine Cushing's homemade sponge toffee recipe online. You combine suguar, corn syrup, water and cook until about 300⁰F and add baking soda - pretty easy!

Did you know (a couple of things I learned along the way):
- once sugar syrup gets to near 300⁰F, it goes from gold coloured to dark brown/burnt very fast - keep an eye on the syrup mixture! The first batch turned out a little too dark (read: burnt) so I had to make a second batch (tastes terrible too!)

- when you add baking soda to the sugar syrup a chemical reaction happens to make the syrup expand. Think grade 3 baking soda/vinegar science experiment, a little less violent though

- you need to work pretty quickly once the mixture is taken off the heat because it wants to cool and harden

- cleaning the pot that the candy was in - a little bit of a pain! Soaking the pan for 5-10 minutes will make cleanup a little easier.

The result was Crunchie worthy sponge toffee! To make these even more tasty dip in melted chocolate chips - homemade Crunchie bars!

Bon appétit!
























Homemade Sponge Toffee - makes lots!

$

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar (625 ml)
2/3 cup light corn syrup (150 ml)
6 tablespoons water (90 ml)
2 tablespoons baking soda (30 ml)
2 teaspoons vanilla (10 ml)

Directions
1.Grease a 9 by 13-inch pan with vegetable oil. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper, making sure the parchment sides are at least 2 inches above the sides of the pan. Grease the parchment paper with a little more oil.
2.In a deep medium saucepan add sugar, corn syrup, water, and vanilla. Over medium-high heat bring the mixture to a boil (without stirring) and cook until hard crack stage, i.e. until temperature reads 300 degrees F. on a candy thermometer. This should take about 10 minutes. During the cooking process, if there are any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan, brush the sides of the pan with a clean pastry brush dipped in water.
3.Remove the sugar mixture from the heat. Working quickly, add the baking soda and whisk to incorporate the soda into the sugar mixture, about 5 seconds. Note the mixture will bubble up when you add the baking soda so be very careful not to touch the hot toffee. Immediately pour the hot toffee into the prepared pan. Let cool and set completely before touching. Break into pieces and serve. Store at room temperature in an airtight container