More Holiday Traditions

A little over a month ago, I wrote about my family's ravioli making and the tradition that it comes from. Another tradition that my grandmother started (and one that died when she passed away) was her candy-making.

I have to admit that Gramma was an artiste in the kitchen. She could make the most ordinary of ingredients turn into something fantastic. I would like to think that I got some of her almost magical ability, but I know that I still have a long way to go before I am as good as she is. Every year, for Easter and Christmas, she would make hand-dipped chocolates and other candies to serve with dessert. Her candy grew quite famous among family and friends, and it became a much-anticipated part of our large family gatherings. My mother tells me that she began making her own hand-dipped chocolates in 1980 (when she was 61). I'm not sure where she got the idea, but she perfected it over the next 27 years before she died. She was also very picky when it came to the ingredients she bought. Her chocolate had to come from Ghirardelli. Her other ingredients came from a little shop not too far from where she lived (surprisingly, the shop is still there). She made the candy fondant herself.

At the peak of her candy making, she was rolling out and hand-dipping upwards of 50 pounds of candy. It was given out to family, and friends, and friends of friends. She gave it to her dentist (funny enough, the office loved it and looked forward to their box every year). My sister would take it to work and share it with her boss and her department. Neighbors got some, old neighbors got some. The candy was spread far and wide. Flavors included raspberry, mint, orange, strawberry, coffee, vanilla, chocolate, and more that she would add in as whimsy and taste dictated. Her most famous candy by far, however, were the brandy cherries. Sadly, I have never been able to find any candy anywhere that comes close to these most revered of her candies. This particular candy was not a child-friendly one (lots of alcohol!), and it was almost a rite of passage when you were allowed to finally have one of Gramma's brandy cherries.

After Gramma died, the candy-making tradition seemed to die with her. We never pursued it, although we mentioned often enough how we wished we could make her candy and bring it back. Finally, this Christmas, more than three years since she passed away, we've reignited the tradition. My sister, my mom, and I tried out a couple of her classics using recipes we made up or found online. We put out a batch of English toffee and 24 peanut clusters.

So for you, I will be posting the English toffee recipe we used. The original recipe we used was Paula Deen's English toffee recipe, which can be found here. However, we did change a couple of things.

What you'll need:
14 Tbs. butter
1 c. sugar
2 Tbs. cold water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 dash of salt
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or baking chips (Ghirardelli chocolate preferred, of course)
1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
a candy thermometer

What you'll need to do:
1. Generously butter a cookie sheet. This will keep the toffee from sticking to it.
2. In a medium-sized heavy saucepan, add the butter, sugar, and water and heat it over medium-high heat. Bring to a bubbling boil while constantly stirring.
3. Remove the spoon, lower to medium-low heat, and slowly cook the mixture to a very brittle stage. On the candy thermometer the temperature would read 300 to 310 degrees. If you don't have a candy thermometer, a cold water test will work (when dropped into cold water, the candy will separate into hard and brittle threads).
4. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and salt. Stir together and pour the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet. Spread it around quickly, as it will start to form. Cool slightly, then top with the chocolate and spread it around as it begins to melt. After the chocolate is melted completely, sprinkle the chopped nuts onto the top.
5. Cool the toffee completely. Use a spatula to pry the toffee off of the cookie sheet. Break it into pieces and store in an airtight container.

We may try another batch before Christmas, and we may be doing hand-dipped chocolates next week as well. Unfortunately, since the hand-dipped chocolates are a "family trademark" as my mom calls it, I will not be posting a recipe for those.

Enjoy the toffee!