Easy Brown Sugar Toffee Recipe | CDKitchen.com (2024)

FAQs

Is light or dark brown sugar better for toffee? ›

Taste is obvious: sweets made with dark brown sugar will have a slightly deeper flavor with those notes of caramel and toffee I mentioned.

The difference between caramel and toffee is greater, as caramel has a more liquid consistency and is usually pure sugar (it doesn't contain butter or flour). Still, the taste of caramel, fudge, and toffee is relatively similar, as they are all made from mostly sugar (as well as butter in the case of fudge and toffee).

Made with just sugar and a little water, toffee is easy to make and is an easy introduction to the world of confectionary. This recipe includes a dash of vinegar which will help keep the colour of the toffee clear and bright and banish any cloudiness.

Penoche is a simple but delicious candy made from brown sugar, butter and milk. Penoche is a bit lighter than fudge and has a wonderful maple caramel flavor. Also known as brown sugar fudge candy, this classic recipe is from our vintage cookbook from 1951, Sue's Candy Kettle.

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.

Brittles and toffees accumulate small amounts of acid from the browning reactions that occur during cooking. This is one reason why the baking soda is added at the end of cooking. The soda reacts with the acid to make bubbles, and the syrup foams.

If you don't stir the toffee often as it's cooking, the toffee can separate. Once the toffee reaches 250 F degrees, stir the toffee frequently to make sure the ingredients stay together. The toffee can also separate if the temperature is too high and it gets too hot too fast. So keep the temperature around medium heat.

Toffee vs Butterscotch

While butterscotch is cooked to a soft-crack stage, toffee is produced by allowing that same butter and brown sugar mixture to reach the hard-crack stage. Butterscotch tends to be chewy and pliable; toffee is brittle and more breakable.

Is toffee the same as taffy? Taffy is in no way, shape, or form toffee. Taffy describes chewy fruit candies, whereas toffee is closer to caramel.

Mel's Dumbed Down Version: patience, moderate heat and heavy-bottoms (see saucepan note above) make the best toffee. What is this? It's important while the toffee cooks to only stir it occasionally. Constant stirring can cause the toffee to crystallize and separate.

Why cream of tartar in toffee? ›

This means that as boiling continues, a portion of the sugar separates into its constituent parts—glucose and fructose. Adding cream of tartar and a dash of vinegar to a toffee recipe helps bring about this change.

If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out. It can also be caused by the mixture being heated unevenly (if the pan has a thin base and has hot spots).

Caramel is sugar that's been cooked until it begins to brown. It can be made with white or brown sugars and turned into a sauce by adding butter, cream and flavorings. It can also be formed into spun sugar or used on top of desserts like crème brulée to form a hard crust without anything added to the browned sugar.

Muscovado Sugar

This musky-flavored sugar is produced by boiling freshly harvested cane juice until it thickens, then crystallizing the mixture. Muscovado sugar is only partially evaporated, making it incredibly moist, sticky, and rich.

Think of muscovado sugar as the darkest of dark brown sugar. Rich, moist, and saturated with molasses, it has the texture of wet sand and a robust, almost bitter flavor.

In addition to making the final product a darker shade of brown, the larger dose of molasses also enhances its rich flavor. Dark brown sugar is generally called for in recipes that have a pronounced caramel flavor, such as Brown-Sugar-and-Bacon-Glazed Brussels Sprouts and Milk Tart with Brown Sugar Crust.

While light and dark brown sugar are interchangeable, they're not exact substitutes. Using dark brown sugar when a recipe calls for light will give your final product a more robust taste and a darker color, and it might slightly affect the texture.

Can you substitute dark brown sugar for light brown sugar? In general, yes, the sugars are interchangeable in most recipes. Especially in most standard baking recipes that call for a mix of sugars like cookies and/or when brown sugar isn't the star ingredient for flavor, you can use one versus the other.

Dark brown sugar has a very strong molasses flavor, while light brown sugar is a little drier and has a much milder flavor. ... A darker brown sugar brings that slightly bitter molasses note to gingerbread and can add depth of flavor to chocolate cake.