Toffees – Cooking with Nana Ling

They’re sticky, sweet as and your teeth may ache just looking at them! These old fashioned toffees will take you straight back to a school fete in the 1980s.

I certainly remember these being hugely popular at kids parties, fetes and markets days. But I also remember making them a LOT as a young teenager. And when I made them up for this post – many decades later – my muscle memory kicked in straight away. I got them perfect first go! And I share all my tips and tricks here so you can also find success, including how to achieve hard toffee and stickjaw (very, very chewy) toffee.

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The recipe

Toffee-making success starts with the right recipe. The recipe I always relied on as a youngster was one from this fabulous recipe book for kids – Cooking is Easy. I LOVED this recipe book, and this toffee recipe largely replicates what it taught me many moons ago.

Ingredients

Sugar – lots of it, is the first thing you’ll need. Caster sugar is preferred as it dissolves more easily. You’ll also need water, cream of tartar and white vinegar.

I love to decorate toffees with 100s & 100s. Desiccated coconut and peanuts are other popular options.

See the recipe card at the end of this post for ingredient quantities.

Equipment

Essential equipment for making toffees includes:

• patty tins and paper patty cases
• pastry brush and a small cup of water
• heavy-based medium-sized saucepan
• wooden spoon.

Hot to make old fashioned toffees

Get the patty papers ready by placing them in the patty tins. this recipe makes about 16 toffees.

Place all of the ingredients in the saucepan. Place over lowest heat and stir gently with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar (see image 1).

TIP: Take care not to cause sugar to splash up sides of saucepan.

Once the sugar has dissolved and the mixture starts to come to simmer, dip the pastry brush in cold water and brush down the sides of the saucepan to ensure there are no remaining sugar crystals (see image 2).

TIP: After the sugar has dissolved, you may have to increase the heat a little to low/medium heat to bring the mixture to a simmer.

No more stirring! Watch the toffee mixture’s colour – it needs to turn a pale golden colour (see images 3, 4 and 5 for this progression). This will likely take anywhere from 15 and 20 minutes depending on the size and type of saucepan used and the precise heat level.

For hard toffee – you’re aiming for the colour in image 5.

For stickjaw toffee – you’re aiming for a shade or 2 lighter than image 5.

Remove from heat and pour into patty cases immediately (as the toffee will continue to cook in the saucepan) (see image 6). Allow about 1 ½ cm of toffee in each patty case.

If decorating, add 100s &1000s immediately (see image 7). Allow to set completely in the patty tins before removing the toffees.

VARIATION IDEA: Decorate with desiccated coconut or peanuts instead of 100s & 1000s (see image 8).

Storage

Once completely set, remove from tins and store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 1 week.

More fete day favourites

Re-create other old school treats with these recipes:

Made this recipe and love it? Please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. (And it really makes my day to hear how Nana Ling’s recipes are being made, shared and loved all around the world! – Libby x)

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