The pans recommended below are the ideal fit for the toffee; if you use other pans, make sure they are perfectly flat, and pour the toffee to a thickness of an eighth of an inch.
Amy's note: this recipe is actually pretty easy if you have a candy thermometer; this is just a very detailed recipe. Also, try and make on a low-humidity day, which is true of any candy.
Ingredients
1 lb
unsalted butter, each stick cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup
light corn syrup
2 1/2 cups
sugar
1 lb
bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
3 cups
pecans, chopped very fine (Amy uses less)
vegetable oil spray
Steps
Spray a 15" x 10" baking pan, a 16 1/2" x 11 1/2" baking pan, and an 8" square baking pan with vegetable oil spray.
In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, combine butter, 1/2 cup water, corn syrup, and sugar. Clip on a candy thermometer.
Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes.
Wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove sugar crystals.
Reduce heat to low; stop stirring. Let mixture come to a boil.
Let boil, without stirring, until temperature reaches 280 degrees (soft-crack stage). This will take from 35 minutes to just over an hour; it is essential that the mixture continues to boil.
Remove from heat. Without scraping pot, pour into prepared pans as evenly as possible. If needed, use a spatula to smooth.
(Amy's note: hardens fast! Pour as smoothly and as quickly as you can.)
Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour.
After 45 minutes of cooling, melt chocolate in a double boiler (or over very low heat), stirring with a rubber spatula.
Pour over toffee; spread with spatula if necessary.
Let cool about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with nuts; press them into chocolate.
Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.
Using a large knife, lightly score 1 3/4" by 2 3/4" rectangles over chocolate. Cut toffee along scored lines; lift pieces out with a spatula. Alternatively, toffee may be broken into shards.
(Amy's note: haha. Do your best with cutting.)
Store in an airtight container.
The Glancy sisters once found a tin of toffee in the downstairs fridge at Dad's house in June (6 months after Christmas) and found it to be delicious. A more conservative estimate on how long it keeps would be 3-4 weeks.
