espresso toffee

ha, this is my 100th post.   wheeee!

i made this for an 'iron chef' competition at work.  the secret ingredient was coffee.  i figured the other teams would go for the obvious...cake or  brownies...so i wanted to try something different.  i originally went with truffles with kahlua.  they were good, but i need to not use as much bittersweet chocolate as the recipe i found called for next time i make them.  they were suuuuuper rich. 

the feedback i got on it was great.  i'll definitely be making this one quite often.

ingredients:

• 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold water
• 10 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, sifted to remove all lumps
• 1 tablespoon finely ground espresso, or powdered instant espresso
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces dark chocolate, tempered
• 6 ounces toasted almonds,  (about 1 cup)  i used sliced, but any should be fine 

first thing to do is line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  i found this cool stuff at target that had parchment on one side, foil on the other.  it held up quite well.

 

 

next thing is measure all of the ingredients out.  once the toffee hits the right temperature you need to move fast to avoid over cooking it, so having the salt, soda and espresso ready to go is a must.

in a large heavy saucepan combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water.

turn the temp on the stove up to medium and let this come to a boil.  once it starts to boil place your candy thermometer in the mix.  let this go until it hits 300 degrees.  i stirred a few times while waiting for this to come up to temperature.

add the baking soda, salt and espresso and stir fast to incorporate.  i used finely ground espresso beans instead of powder, since that's what i had on hand.

spread this mixture out over the lined pan and allow to cool for about an hour.

temper your chocolate and spread this over the cooled toffee.   i used sliced almonds and pressed them gently into the warm chocolate.  let this cool for a few hours before cutting into squares.

this smells amazing as it's cooking.  

i found this originally here. 

this turns into a gorgeous amber color once it starts getting close to 300.

 

cut into squares after completely cooled.  about 2 hours after adding the chocolate and almonds.