Mrs Banks' Treacle Toffee

Soundtrack: Radio 4.  What else?

I was moodling about on the internet the other day and came across a mention of treacle toffee.  I had one of those moments so beloved of food writers: a childhood flashback.  In my case, to sitting around the kitchen table wrapping pieces of treacle toffee in squares of greaseproof paper and popping them in a paper bag while simultaneously trying to snaffle as many pieces as possible without Mum noticing.  I suspect I was more successful in the snaffling than the sneaking.  It's the ultimate autumn activity for me, and the best thing to have for bonfire night.

Any who, after a quick phone call to Mum this morning for some expert tips and to get her recipe, I made a start.  The recipe came originally from Mrs Banks, a lady who went to our church when I was a child and Mum reckons it's the best, and she should know, being an expert in things like how to boil sugar properly.

Start by buttering the life out of a tin about 10 x 7".

I used my silicone one.  The mixture is going to get to around 150C.  My silicone tin can take 250C so was fine.

Melt the main body of your butter (or hard marg, but not the spreading stuff!) over a low heat.

Add the rest of your ingredients (I gave myself 10/10 for oiling my spoon before putting it in the treacle) and heat them really gently until there are no sugar crystals left.  This took at least half an hour, so do be patient!  I also changed implement for a silicone spatula which scraped the sides better.  I remembered to clean the wooden spoon straight away with hot water, so well done me again.  I used some of the time to empty the dishwasher and let the cat in and out, remembering to stir the mix regularly.

Only once there's no gritty sugar left can you raise the temperature and boil it rapidly for 5 minutes.
Test what stage it's got to using some cold water.  I had been a bit of a scaredy cat over the boiling, so I gave it a minute or two longer.

Pour it into the waiting tin.  You might want to put the tin onto the draining board because the metal will dissipate the heat better than the worktop will (another top Mum hint there).
As it cools, mark it out into squares.

Once it's cooled, break it up.  I started trying to cut it and then tried hitting it with the heel of my knife which worked well.  I like my toffee at the stage where it's quite hard and then goes chewy and sticks your teeth together.  If you do it less hard, you might find it easier to chop up.  Keep the pieces fairly separate.

Put something good on the radio, like the episode of In Our Time about the moon (if the link has expired, try the In Our Time Archive.  Many happy hours await you) and wrap each piece up in a piece of greaseproof paper.

For proper authenticity, put them into a paper bag.  As you can see, this will take a while.  Try not to eat all the toffee.
If any bits are really small, put a few together into one little packet, they'll fuse together in no time.

Take to your bonfire party and enjoy!

If you'd like a copy of the ingredients, leave me a comment including how to get in touch.

Now, back to Melvin Bragg, then on to write LARS advent sessions.  Hurrah for autumn!