Coffee and Cardamom Toffee

Recipe taken from Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 irresistible homemade presents for every occasion by Annie Rigg and courtesy of Easy Living Magazine.

Makes about 20 pieces

There is something quite nostalgic and old-fashioned about toffee, but here it is given a contemporary twist with coffee and a hint of cardamom.

Ingredients:-
Sunflower oil, for brushing the tin
125g (4oz) unsalted butter, diced
200g (6 ½ oz) caster sugar
75g molasses sugar
2 ruonded tblsp golden syrup
2 tsp instant coffee granules
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
5-6 cardamom pods

Step One : Brush the inside of a 17cm (7in) square baking tin with sunflower oil.

Step Two : Place all the ingredients except the cardamom pods in a medium-sized pan and add 75ml (2 ½ fl oz) water. Crack the cardamom pods using a pestle and mortar; remove the green husks and finely grind the little black seeds. Add to the pan and place over a low to medium heat. Stir to melt the butter and completely dissolve the sugars.

Step Three : When the sugars have dissolved, raise the heat slightly and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring from time to time. Continue to cook steadily until the toffee registers 126oC / 260oF (hard ball stage) on a sugar thermometer.

Step Four : Remove the pan from the heat, give the toffee a quick whisk and pour into the greased baking tin. Leave to cool and harden before breaking into pieces and packaging in waxed paper.

Step Five : Stored in an airtight container, the toffee will keep for about a week.

Link to book containing recipe can be found here …