Gingerbread Toffees

Every year, for quite some time now, I've made gingerbread toffees around this time of year.

Until now, I've always made them in the microwave oven. This year though, I decided to make them the "normal" way, in a pot. The downside is that it's a bit trickier, but on the plus side, I can make more at once, eliminating the need to make several batches, and I have much more control over the consistency of the resulting toffees.

125°C gives me a toffee with the perfect texture, hard enough to handle easily, but soft enough that it melts and goes soft in the mouth.

Ingredients

50g Butter

3 dl Whipping cream

1,5 dl golden syrup

3 dl Sugar

6 ml Cinnamon

6 ml Cloves (ground)

6 ml Ginger (ground)

First of all, this recipe requires a few utensils, best to get them out first. You'll need a large(ish) pot to cook the toffee in, the best is a large, fairly wide one (wilde so that it heats faster, large so that it doesn't boil over). I used a 5 liter one. You'll also need a thermometer that goes up to more than 125°C. Finally, prepare a "mold" to pour the toffee into once it's done, I used a 20x20 cm one, but slightly smaller or larger isn't a big deal. Cover the mold in baking paper.

Tip #1: scrunch up the baking paper and smooth it back out a few times first, it'll make it softer and easier to fit into the mold.

Tip #2: Keep a bowl of water next to you, the toffee is VERY hot, and unlike water, it'll stick to your skin. If some gets on you, cool it down quickly.

Place all the ingredients into the pot, and turn the stove to medium-high. Stir a bit while it melts.

Once it has melted, turn the stove down to medium and let it come to a boil. Measure the temperature constantly, stirring occasionally, it'll darken a bit after a while. Once the toffee reaches 125°C, it's done, remove from the heat and stir vigorously until it stops boiling. 

Pour into the mod and let cool. Then cut into bite-sized pieces, with either a knife or scissors, and wrap in pieces of baking paper.

Gingerbread Toffees

Christmas is coming!

At this time of year, for the last half a dozen years or so, I've made gingerbread toffee. The year before that, the consultant company I worked for at the time sent along some to where I was assigned. I loved it so much, that when they didn't do the same next year, I looked up a recipe and made some. It's now become a sort of tradition.

This is a bit of a cheat recipe, fast and easy, made in the microwave oven. Don't let that fool you though, they are very, very delicious. It's the taste of gingerbread, but it permeates your mouth in a way that the biscuits never can.

So if you like gingerbread, I highly recommend trying these. As I said, they are incredibly quick and easy to make.

Gingerbread Toffees

Ingredients
1 dl Whipping cream 
½ dl Golden molasses
½ dl Sugar
2 ml Ground cloves
2 ml Ground ginger
2 ml Ground cinnamon

Ingredients

Warning #1: Don't try to double the recipe, it would change the cooking time completely.
Warning #2: Be careful, while you are doing ti in the microwave, you are melting sugar. It is extremely hot, and will stick to your skin if you get in on you.

Get a large glass bowl. It must be glass, plastic will melt. It also must be large, or the toffee will boil over the edge.

Get an oven tray out, and put some parchment paper on it. 

Whisk all the ingredients in the bowl until combined. Put into the microwave oven and cook on full blast for 5 minutes. Take it out, give it a stir, and cook for a further 2 minutes.

It should have bubbled up quite a bit. Stir until it's no longer bubbling, and pour out onto the oven tray. Let it cool.

Cut into pieces, either with scissors or a knife, form to your desired shape, and wrap in greaseproof paper.

All mixed up

After 5 minutes

After another 2 minutes

Cooling

Chocolate truffles with passion fruit

I love chocolate truffles, they are easy to make, rich, smooth, and full of chocolaty goodness.

I made these for my birthday as well. They seem to go down very well with adults, but not so much with the kids (my nephews didn't like them on their own, but thought they were good in combination with the orange ice cream).

The passion fruit flavour cuts through the richness of the chocolate in a great way, and as a result, this has become one of my favorite flavor combinations.

Credit where credits due, I got the idea for these from the exploding chocolate gateau by Heston Blumenthal, which is highly recommended if you're feeling adventurous. Also the basic "form" of this recipe is from Hestons chocolate truffles recipe, though I've modified it a bit.

Tip 1: This recipe makes quite a few truffles, but it is very scalable. If you want a different amount, just decrease/increase each of the ingredients, by the same percentage.

Ingredients:
3 dl whipping cream
200g dark chocolate (70%)
100g milk chocolate
9 Passion fruits
Cocoa powder

 

Ingredients