Almond Encrusted English Toffee Recipes

ALMOND ROCA (ENGLISH TOFFEE)

Steps:

• Spread almonds evenly on a buttered 12 x 17-inch jelly roll pan. (I used a Silpat sheet and only buttered sides and that worked great).
• Mix sugar, butter and water in a large saucepan. Cook over high heat until tan (295°F at sea level). It needs to be past the point where the mixture begins to turn tan. It will be a foamy, thick, medium tan. Be sure to stir constantly with a wooden spoon.
• Pour over sliced almonds and spread as much as possible.
• Sprinkle chocolate pieces over immediately. Let melt a minute or two and then spread evenly with knife.
• When completely cool and chocolate is solid, break into pieces.

ALMOND TOFFEE

Steps:

• Line the bottom and sides of a 15x10x1-in. pan with foil. Grease foil with 1-1/2 teaspoons butter; set aside., In a large heavy saucepan, melt remaining butter. Add the sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 290° (soft-crack stage)., Pour into prepared pan. Cool for 4 minutes. Sprinkle with chocolate chips; let stand for 3 minutes. Spread melted chocolate evenly over candy. Sprinkle with almonds; press down lightly. Cool until chocolate is firm. Break into bite-size pieces. Store in airtight containers.

ALMOND-ENCRUSTED ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Chop the almonds until they are broken into chunks with a food processor or blender.
• Remove half and continue to grind the remaining portion into a coarse meal- Set both halves aside for later.
• Melt butter with salt on medium heat.
• Stir sugar in slowly.
• Continue cooking and stirring for approximately 15 minutes.
• At first, the sugar will sink to the bottom and not melt.
• Eventually, the sugar and butter will melt into each other into a pearly, puffy mixture (make sure your pan is large enough) and then will continue to darken from buttery yellow to tan.
• When it turns tan, stir in the chunks of almond and vanilla, darkening the mixture further.
• Continue stirring until the almonds are toasted- You will be able to tell by the scent- Be very careful at this point that the almonds do not begin to burn!
• The temperature should be about 280°/Hard crack stage and if butter starts to rise to the top, take mixture off the heat immediately.
• Stir it briskly once off the heat then pour into a 11x15 baking sheet that has been lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• Cut 1/2 the chocolate up and melt over a double boiler and spread over the surface of the cooling toffee.
• Dust surface with 1/2 of the almond meal.
• Once cooled and hardened, melt the remaining chocolate, flip toffee out of the pan, and coat the bottom.
• Repeat dusting of almonds.
• Don't get all stressed if the toffee breaks-- it's supposed to be handy-size chunks.
• Refrigerate until hardened thoroughly and finish breaking into piece.
• Continue to refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve/given as gift/eaten!

ALMOND-CRUSTED TILAPIA

Steps:

• Beat the eggs with the lemon pepper and garlic pepper until blended; set aside. Stir together ground almonds with 1 cup of Parmesan cheese in a shallow dish until combined; set aside. Dust the tilapia fillets with flour, and shake off excess. Dip the tilapia in egg, then press into the almond mixture.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook tilapia in melted butter until golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium, and season fillets with salt if desired. Sprinkle the tilapia with the remaining Parmesan cheese, cover, and continue cooking until the Parmesan cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the tilapia to a serving dish, and garnish with parsley springs and lemon wedges to serve.