When I visit a new restaurant these days, it seems I get inspired to make my version of one of their outstanding dishes. This time, I came across a wonderful luxurious dessert called Sticky Toffee Pudding. Check here for my recipe! It is definitely decadent. Sticky Toffee Pudding is basically a sugary sponge cake made with chopped dates topped with ice cream and caramel sauce. We add the light Toffee bits just to make the dessert a little more decadent!

**My Version of Sticky Toffee Pudding with those Crunchy Toffee Bits**

What Makes This Recipe Special

Most toffee is cooked to 300° which is called “hard crack”. I prefer to cook 280° which is called “soft crack”. I want my toffee to have a light crunch that won’t take out your teeth. The recipe also includes Baking Soda which also gives the toffee a lighter crunch.

Isn’t Cooking Candy a Little Dangerous?

Anytime you heat sugar there is the potential of getting burned. Sugar has a high heat capacity and can scald if it spills. Making toffee is not dangerous per se. However, it doesn’t mean a spill can’t happen if you are not careful. Just take your time and be aware of where your tools, ingredients, and hot toffee are and where they are supposed to be. Make sure you have plenty of room for counter space and your needs regarding the recipe.

**The temperature of soon to be toffee is 250°**

You can see by looking at the picture above the potential of how hot the toffee mixture is becoming. The bubbling mixture would definitely burn you if you spilled some on yourself.

How Do I Know When It’s Ready?

There are a couple of ways you will know when it’s ready. The main way is by using your candy thermometer and once it reaches 280°, pull the pot off the stove and add the baking soda. The other way is to watch the color. If the cooking toffee is looking too dark, your temperature maybe too high.

**You can see the air in the toffee produced by the added Baking Soda**

**Toffee after it has cooled down and broken into pieces**

Have fun with this recipe. Once you have it down, the next step would be to make some English Toffee. That’s my next step!

I know you will enjoy this recipe! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. And as always, thanks for Spending Time in My Kitchen!

The Best Light Toffee Recipe

Recipe by David Frank – Spending Time In My Kitchen

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

Toffee
8 Oz Salted butter
1 1/4 Cup Granulated sugar
2 Tbl Water
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking soda

Directions

Making the Toffee Pieces (Buttercrunch)
Prepare a 9X9 pan. Place some parchment paper that hangs over the sides of your pan.
Vegetable spray a medium 3 qt saucepan so that your toffee won’t climb the pan.
Add butter to your saucepan and melt completely over medium-low heat.
Add sugar, salt, and water to the saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently stir with a wooden spoon until combined. (After this point you should not do a lot of stirring. You do not want to chance “breaking” your mixture. Breaking is when the butter separates and you are left with one buttery mess.)
Cook toffee mixture until heat registers 280° on a candy thermometer. It should take 20 to 30 minutes to cook. “Do Not Hurry the Process” by turning up the heat. You will break the toffee mixture. Take it slow and it will work.
Pull your saucepan off the heat when you reach 280°. Quickly add and stir in your Baking Soda. The Baking Soda will cause your toffee to bubble. So stir until completely combined and then place the toffee mixture into your 9″ X 9″ square pan. Do not mix for too long. You do not want to mix so much that your bubbles disappear. You want the baking soda to lighten your toffee. The bubbles help to do that.
Do not touch your toffee mixture after you have placed it into the pan. Let it set for a minimum of 30 minutes if you have placed it in the refrigerator. Let it sit for 1 hour if it will be sitting on the counter.
Once your toffee has hardened, you can break it into little bits the size that works for you.
Use as garnish for your Sticky Toffee Pudding! Enjoy!

Notes

If using unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp of salt to your toffee at the time that you add sugar
Making toffee is so precise, that you absolutely need to use a candy thermometer to measure and keep track of your temperature.