Toffee is made by caramelising sugar with butter, and sometimes flour is added too. Toffee can be plain, or feature nuts or raisins. You need to boil the ingredients until the mixture is stiff, then you can pull the sheet of toffee into shape and let it cool. Toffee can range from sticky and soft to hard and brittle, depending what kind of result you want. English toffee is buttery and often contains almonds. You can get it hard or chewy. Honeycomb toffee is made by adding vinegar and baking soda while mixing. When these react with the carbon dioxide in the mixture, you get lots of tiny holes in the toffee.

The type of toffee made in this video is the kind used for making toffee apples in the UK. Making your own toffee is very easy and you only need sugar and water. If you like, you can add a few drops of red food colouring for a rich red colour, but that is optional. The toffees are made in individual paper liners and decorated with Hundreds and Thousands (known in some places as sprinkles) for a cute look.

Serve them in the cupcake papers and perhaps coordinate those with your tablecloth and serviettes for a colour coordinated teatime treat. These are very, very sweet so make sure you serve a selection of contrasting savoury foods too, such as sandwiches and savoury tarts or pastries, for a nice, balanced teatime spread. Continue reading →