Toasted Almond Toffee with Salted Chocolate

Um, hello, YUM. Who doesn't like buttery toffee with toasty almonds and just dark enough chocolate? Especially if its sprinkled with deliciously smoky golden salt? I'm warning you, this stuff is dangerous. And by dangerous, I mean truly addictive. It has taken every ounce of my self-control not to eat the whole batch by myself. In fact, in order to prevent myself from doing just that, I had to resort to sending this stuff to my Dad, who is on the other side of the continent. 

 Now, I can't take much credit for this habit-forming candy, the recipe is almost straight out of Tartine. Other than loosening up the candy mixture with a little extra water and molasses, the only twist I put on it is the sea salt. I used Halen Môn Gold salt, from The Meadow. Halen Môn is produced in Wales, the gold variety is smoked over a Welsh Oak log and lends itself particularly well to seasoning desserts - especially chocolates, vanilla ice cream, caramels, etc. It is far and away my favorite salt!

 Please be sure to read through the recipe and have all of your ingredients measured and ready to go. Candy-making happens in a flash and I speak from experience when I say if you're not prepared, disaster ensues! Also, just incase the above warnings didn't do their job I'll try again: this stuff is like crack. You should probably make a double batch if you intend to share.

Toasted Almond Toffee with Salted Chocolate

Slightly adapted from Tartine

Kitchen Soundtrack: Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald - Porgy and Bess

Makes about 680g or 1½ pounds of toffee

Ingredients:

• 200g or 2 cups sliced almonds
• 350g or 1¾ cups sugar
• 60ml or 4 tbsp water
• 115g or ½ cup unsalted butter
• 15g or 1 scant tbsp dark molasses
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 140g or 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 scant tsp Halen Môn Gold salt, or flakey sea salt of your choice

Method:

1.  Toast the almonds on a baking sheet in a 325˚ oven for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until evenly golden brown. Allow to cool.
2. Line a jelly-roll pan or baking sheet with parchment or a silpat, spread half of the almonds so they are completely covering the liner (shaking the pan a little bit helps the almonds settle). Reserve the rest for the topping. 
3. In a sturdy 3 qt saucepan combine the sugar, water, butter, molasses, and salt. If you are using a scale, you can just weigh all of the ingredients in the saucepan (yay for fewer dishes!). Heat over medium, stirring every so often until a candy thermometer registers 295˚F. This should take a little more than 5-10 minutes, but keep a close eye on it. Remove from heat immediately.
4. Carefully add the vanilla and baking soda and stir to combine evenly.
5. At this point, the toffee is starting to set up, so quickly pour the candy mixture over the toasted almonds as evenly as you can. I find using a heatproof silicone spatula helps to get all of the mixture out of the pot, and you can use it to spread the toffee a little if you need to.
6. Allow the toffee to cool for 5 minutes or so, until you can touch it without burning yourself, spread the chopped chocolate over the surface of the toffee. The heat from the toffee will melt the chocolate, then you can even and smooth it out with an offset spatula.
7. Sprinkle the Halen Môn Gold or flakey sea salt over the chocolate, and then the rest of the toasted almonds. Allow to cool and set. If you leave it at room temperature you will probably need to leave it overnight. Putting the whole thing in the fridge will speed up this process quite a bit.
8. After the chocolate is set, break the toffee into pieces. You can keep the toffee at room temperature in a sealed container for several weeks, but don't freeze it!