English Toffee

Twelve Days of Candy-Making — Day 8

Create memories your families and friends will savor for years to come

English Toffee

(Ruth Catherine Peters)

Candy

1 lb. butter

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 cups raw almonds

Topping

Chocolate chips or dipping chocolate

Walnuts or pecans, crushed

To make this candy all ingredients should be at room temperature. You will need a flat bottom wooden spatula and a triple clad kettle — Ruth uses an old pressure cooker. Have buttered cookie sheets ready — Ruth uses three sheets to produce a thinner brittle.

Start the kettle on medium heat. Melt the butter and add the sugar, salt and almonds. Stir constantly. Do not touch the sides of the kettle but keep the bottom stirred. When the nuts rise to the surface and the syrup darkens, stir faster. Adjust the heat to keep the syrup bubbling — the faster the better. Pour out onto the buttered cookie sheets when the syrup has reached the hard crack stage (310 to 330°F).

When cooled, frost with melted chocolate chips or dipping chocolate. Sprinkle crushed walnuts or pecans over the chocolate. When the chocolate sets, flip the toffee over and repeat the process.

Store the candy in between layers of waxed paper.

“This recipe for English toffee requires candy-making skills, patience, endurance and strength of character,” said Ruth Catherine (Schellinger) Peters. “The recipe was given to my mother (Anna [Lodermeier] Schellinger) in 1950 by Nora (Bernauer) Donohue who lived across the street from our family on 14th Ave. S in St. Cloud. Nora was an employee at Jones Candy Shop on St. Germain in St. Cloud. The Schellinger family were members of St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud.

A note from Carol: Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa., Walter C. Jones learned the art of making candy in his hometown. As a young man, he worked for wholesale food companies and observed candy makers in Fargo, N.D.; St. Louis, Mo.; Peoria, Ill. and St. Paul before settling in St. Cloud in 1897. That year he opened Jones Candy Shop — a small confectionary — at 522 St. Germain where, in addition to making and selling candy, soft drinks and ice cream sundaes were also served. Ten years later in 1907, he constructed a brick building at 510 St. Germain, which is still in use today. There he opened a larger store by the same name, which was in existence until his retirement in 1941. Jones died at the age of 78 in 1948.