The Family Cookbook
Culinary Heirlooms
mitzi&sheldon
by Doug Anderson
Reprinted from Bulletin 74, November 27, 2003

      Greetings food fans! I have been enjoying a recent boom in contributions to this column, so let's just hope the trend continues! I have been receiving fun and delicious recipes of all sorts, and today's entry is certainly no exception.

      It seems while Kjirsten is engaged in a claw and tooth battle of survival in the rain forest, Mom and Dad sit comfortably at home and make toffee. More power to them, I say! Anyway, today's recipe could be looked at as another compare/ contrast experiment, this time pitting microwave toffee against its more traditional predecessor. Either way, you are the winner, so sit back and enjoy:

Mitzi & Sheldon's Toffee "2 Ways"

Microwave Butter Toffee
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sliced almonds, chopped pecans or walnuts; optional

Rub the inside top 2 inches of a 1-1/2 or 2 quart glass bowl with butter, then place remaining butter in bowl. Pour sugar directly onto butter (avoid getting on sides of bowl). Add salt and water. DO NOT STIR. Microwave on high about 8-10 minutes. Candy is done when it is the color of light brown sugar. Pour hot candy into a buttered 9" pie pan. Cool a couple of minutes then top with 2 broken Hershey bars or 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Spread when melted and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Break toffee into pieces when cool.

Traditional Butter Toffee
1 cup butter
1-1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
3 Tbsp. water
1 cup chopped & toasted almonds, pecans or walnuts; optional

Melt butter in large heavy pan. Add remaining ingredients and cook to hard crack 300 degrees, stirring most of the time. Spread in well greased 9X13" pan. Melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 Tbsp. butter flavored Crisco. Spread over toffee and top with finely chopped nuts. Cool and break into pieces. This recipe can be doubled.

Both recipes can be poured over toasted almonds, pecans or walnuts. We prefer the nuts on the top instead.


      How cool is that? Now you can enjoy toffee for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and your dentist will love you for it! Thanks, Mitzi and Sheldon, for such a fun recipe!

      What I have really enjoyed is the number of people who are contributing more than once. After all, our family is large, but not infinite, and those recipes have to come from somewhere! Let's hear from you, okay? See you next week!

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