Sunday, November 14, 2010

Failed toffee... oh the joys!

The tale of 2 toffee fails...

Problem #1... the butter and sugar separate as the mixture is cooking. My research tells me this could happen for a number of reasons...




Cause #1) Either the mixture is being stirred too quickly and it causes the butter and sugar to separate. The the butter falls to the bottom of the pan and hangs out there while the butter floats to the top. (That's what happened here - pretty ain't it?!)

Cause #2) The heat is too hight which causes the liquid in the mixture to evaporate too quickly, which causes the butter and sugar to separate.

(confession: this was toffee attempt #2)


Problem #2... sugar mixture didn't cook to the hard ball stage.

Which happened to me on my second attempt...

Take a look at that... you can tell by the color of the toffee that it's not cooked enough. And it's soft to the touch. As you know, toffee isn't supposed to be soft to the touch. But unfortunately there's no way to know that until the toffee cools. And now I've learned the reason why some people simply don't want to make toffee.

Take a look at the pictures below to see what this looks like... the toffee simply folded in half. No bueno...



See that indent in the sugar mixture (below)? That indent was made by my finger... you shouldn't be able to do this to toffee... no bueno.


I can even squish it between my fingers... no bueno. To the trash it goes...




(confession: this was toffee attempt #3)


Take it from me... if you fail in the kitchen try, try again...



I just think I'll wait and try again tomorrow.



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

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