I tried her recipe yesterday. One of our darling neighbors gave us a tin of cookies for shoveling their driveway. I wanted to return the tin and thought I'd make some toffee to put in it. So I threw the ingredients in a pot and let it cook while chopping vegetables for dinner. Regina had said that she followed the recipe to a T which included medium heat (no rushing it with medium high or high) and allowing it to get to 285F. I got out my new candy thermometer and got to work.
Things started out just fine. Melting butter with some added sugar and salt. Any fool can do that!
Still looking good. Getting nice and foamy and heading toward the "dark amber" the recipe calls for.
Deceptive success. This looks pretty much like toffee.
What you can't see is that I overcooked it. It started to separate and I had to drain off a bunch of butter because I couldn't get it to incorporate. When I poured it in the pan it only spread out to half the surface area it should have. I had to pull up the edge of the parchment to keep it from slumping pathetically across the pan. It doesn't taste bad...but it is hard. Definitely not the crispy, delicate, delicious treat Regina made.
My take-away is this: When your friend Carol tells you, "Test your candy thermometer in boiling water against your meat thermometer to make sure it works. I've had one that wasn't calibrated properly." you don't just assume you know more than she does. That, my friends, is what makes you a fool!
www.sparksrenohomesearch.com
No comments:
Post a Comment