Recipe: Sponge toffee

Sponge toffee makes a great addition to a pastry platter - it has a neat abstract visual effect, and no matter how hard they try, most people eventually give in  for a piece or two.  If you want to go an extra step, take a few chunks and coat them with chocolate, then scatter them amongst some truffles.  Much of the success here is in technique - I had done it a few times before with varying levels of success, but Dan recently showed me a slightly different way of cooking the sugar which greatly improves the results.  You can use a probe or a candy thermometer, as song as you eventually get to 300F / 149C - this is hard crack stage for sugar and absolutely necessary for the sponge to hold.  Once you get to the baking soda part, you need to move fast so you get the soda well dispersed and the sugar onto the tray before it starts to set.  The pictures here are for a large batch we did recently, but the recipe is a little more reasonable in size.

cook out the sugars

You will need:

250ml / 1C           white sugar

250ml / 1C           corn syrup

15ml / 1Tbs          white vinegar

15ml / 1Tbs          baking soda

pinch                    salt

raise the heat and get ready

Method:

 - combine the syrup, sugar, vinegar and pinch of salt in a pot

 - set the stove to medium heat and heat the mixture to a simmer

 - stir occasionally with a heat proof spatula

 - measure out the baking soda, have a whisk ready

 - have a 9" X 9" (23cm X 23cm) pan paper lined and ready

 - monitor the temperature - when you get to the 250F - 290F (121C - 143C), slow it down a little

 - let the mixture cook and thicken below the 300F / 149C mark

 - when the mixture is noticeably thicker (you will feel it when you stir it), let it come up to 300F / 149C

mix the soda and pour out

 - once at 300F / 149C, add the baking soda and whisk really well as the foam rises

 - pour the foaming sugar into the pan and let cool completely

 - use a knife to break the sponge toffee into bite size chunks

 - coat with chocolate or serve as is

 - store in an airtight container