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Bonfire Toffee

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Submitted by Robert Crowe, who got it from http://britishfood.about.com/od/festivecooking/r/parkin.htm.  The website includes this description:  “Bonfire toffee is the absolute treat on Bonfire night in the UK. The Treacle Toffee Recipe for Bonfire Toffee is simple, quick and easy to make but must be approached with caution; toffee gets very, very hot (up to 140 °C/ 270°) as it is boils. Treacle Toffee keeps very well stored in an airtight tin so make enough for Bonfire night and extra toffee for Christmas.”

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

  • 1lb/450g dark brown sugar
  • ¼ pint/120ml water
  • ¼ level tsp cream of tartar
  • ½cup/115g black treacle/molasses
  • ½cup/115g golden syrup/corn syrup

Butter a 12″ x 4″/30cm x 10cm or 7″/18cm square tin.

In a heavy based 4-pint sauce pan dissolve the sugar and water over a low heat. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Using a sugar or toffee thermometer boil to 270°/140°C (soft crack). If you do not have a sugar or toffee thermometer – when you drop a bit of the syrup into cold water, it will solidify into threads that, when removed from the water, are flexible, not brittle. The toffee strands will bend slightly before breaking.

Once this stage is reached (about 10 minutes maximum) pour the toffee into the prepared tin and leave to cool.

Once the toffee is cold remove it from the tin and break with a toffee hammer or solid sharp object, and the toffee will crack into pieces.

Store in an airtight tin if you can resist it long enough!

 

Makes 1¼lb/500g toffee

Crock pot Apple Butter

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Submitted by Mandy Mills, who writes:  “Here is my pseudo-recipe for apple butter. I assume a certain level of proficiency with home canning procedures. This is what I like to do with extra apples that I always buy this time of year because they are so inexpensive and good in the fall, then I don’t eat them all and they get kind of soft and aren’t really good for eating anymore. They still make good apple butter, and the beauty of using the crock pot is that they don’t burn, and you don’t have to watch it all the time like you do on the stovetop (if you’ve ever made it, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, trust me, you have to watch the stuff like a hawk because of all the sugar in it!) Enjoy!”

  • Approximately 5-6 lbs. apples, sliced (not peeled) – I use a variety (enough to fill a standard 5-quart crock pot to the top)
  • Approximately 3 cups sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Place everything in the crock pot, stir, cover, and turn it on “high” for 1 hour. Turn the temperature down to “low” and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 hours.

At this point, the apples should be very soft, and there will be quite a lot of liquid. I puree everything using an immersion blender, and then continue to cook on “low” for another 3-4 hours or until it is as thick as you want it (remove a spoonful to a plate and let it cool to check consistency).

Meanwhile, wash your canning jars (I use ½ pint jelly jars) and lids, and place the lids in hot (not boiling) water. Fill a boiling-water bath canner with water and heat it up. Jars should be hot, so they don’t crack when you pour hot apple butter into them.

Fill jars to within ½” of rim, wipe rim and threads with a damp cloth or paper towel, put on lid and ring and hand tighten. Place in canner. Once all the jars are filled, make sure the water in the canner covers the jars by 1-2”, bring to a boil, and process for 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner and place them on a dry towel to cool. Refrigerate any that don’t seal and use those first. Sealed jars should keep for one year.

This recipe should make 8 half-pint jars of apple butter.

Hank’s Fudge Sauce

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Submitted by Diane Caylor Jasper, who writes:  “It takes a little work but it is the best chocolate sauce I have ever had. [My husband] Hank makes this every winter. He gives small jelly jars of it away as gifts. If your a chocolaholic you’ll love this!”

  • 8 squares unsweetened chocolate (If you like it less sweet add a little more chocolate)
  • 1/2 lb. butter
  • 1 1/2 sugar
  • 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 teaspoons real vanilla

Melt butter & chocolate over low heat; add sugar, milk, water and salt; Stir constantly until thick and well blended.  Add vanilla.
Pour into jars.

The sauce can be frozen when cooled.

Ginny’s Spiced Nuts

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Great for holiday gifts!

  • 1 pound pecan halves and/or almonds
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment or spray with cooking spray – The parchment makes things a lot easier.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites and water until they get a little frothy.

In a separate bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon and salt.

Roll nuts around in egg white mixture until they are wet, then add sugar mixture and stir to coat.

Put on prepared cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes, moving nuts around every ten minutes.

Let cool on cookie sheet and then transfer to an airtight container.