I have another sweet treat to share with you this week, and one that is perfect for bonfire night. That’s right I have a yummy bonfire toffee recipe for you to have a try.

Bonfire toffee or treacle toffee is something that reminds me of the late stages of autumn to early stages of winter, more specifically bonfire night or Guy Fawkes night. It is a hard-boiled sweet treat with a smoky warming taste to it. A slightly acquired taste, but one that is delicious nonetheless.
I can remember watching the large roaring bonfires and firework displays when I was younger, whilst enjoying this sweet treat.

This sweet has several other names as well; tom trot and plot toffee. I haven’t heard these before, so it looks like every day is a school day!

Bonfire Toffee

Now, bonfire toffee consists of several ingredients and has very high sugar content. One of the ingredients wasn’t originally used as part of baking/sweet making, however. Black treacle gives the bonfire toffee recipe a bitter-sweet liquorice taste, as well as the deep amber colour. It is similar to molasses, however is slightly sweeter. This was originally used as a medicine for a variety of ailments. It later then began being used in more sweet treats like this treacle toffee and bonfire toffee recipe.

Similar to cinder toffee, this is a mixture of sugar that is heated to a very high temperature. To get the sugar to set into the hard-boiled consistency, the sugar has to reach a high of 150°C/300°F. Therefore, if recreating this bonfire toffee recipe, then I would advise keeping small children at a distance, as well as using a fairly high sided saucepan. We don’t want any accidents happening whilst making this!

So if this has piqued your interest, then let’s get sweet making!

Bonfire Toffee Recipe

I am making this bonfire toffee as one large slab and breaking it into pieces, however, you can make it to fit any shape that you like. So, if you fancy bonfire toffee lollipops, then you can use this recipe to make them too! You just have to make sure you have the correct type of mould, ideally made with silicone. The toffee won’t stick to the silicone but will weld itself to metal. If all you have is a metal baking tin, make sure it is completely covered and greased to the max with greaseproof paper.

What You Need:

To make the bonfire toffee, you will need the following ingredients and items. Some items on this list are affiliate links and are marked with an asterisk (*).

• 450g Dark Brown Sugar
• 125g Golden Syrup
• 100g Black Treacle
• 125ml Water
• 25g Butter
• ¼ tsp Cream of Tartar

Items:

• Heavy Based Saucepan
• Silicone Baking Mould (Square)*
• Silicone Spatula*
• Food/Sugar Thermometer*

Step 1 – Prepare Baking Mould

I am using a square silicone mould for my toffee to set in, however you can use whichever mould you like. If you have a metal baking tin, then make sure you fully grease and cover it completely greaseproof paper/baking paper. You don’t want any of the metal exposed, as the toffee will adhere to this and will be near on impossible to remove.
Even though I used silicone, I placed butter in to provide extra grease for easier removal.

Also place the mould on a heatproof surface as well, as the toffee will be VERY hot when first poured into the mould.

Step 2 – Heat Ingredients

In the large heavy-based saucepan, place in all of the ingredients. Give the mixture a gentle stir and then begin heating on medium heat. Keep heating until all of the ingredients have dissolved together. The sweet liquid should have turned smooth and dark. You can gently stir during this.

Step 3 – Turn up the Heat

When the ingredients have dissolved, the heat can be cranked up to bring the liquid to a rolling boil. This is where your thermometer comes in because we need the toffee to reach the ‘hard crack’ stage for it to form into the hard-boiled sweet. Stir frequently during this, but be careful as the sugar syrup will begin to bubble and come up the sides of the pan. Keep heating until the toffee reaches 150°C/300°F. This is when the toffee reaches the hard-crack stage and can take around 10-15minutes.

As the sugar is getting to a high temperature and can begin to boil up the pan, it is best not to leave this unattended. You want to make sure you keep an eye on the sugar, as you also don’t want it to begin to burn.

Step 4 – Pour into Mould

Once the toffee reaches the temperature, remove it from the heat. Immediately pour it into the mould, scraping as much out of the pan as possible. You will notice that as the majority of the toffee comes out of the pan, the edges will begin to cool and be more difficult to scrape out. There may also be some sugar strands/webs forming as well.

Allow to cool and completely set in the mould. This may take a few hours.

Step 5 – Break into Pieces

When the treacle toffee is completely set, it is time to break it into pieces and remove it from the mould. To do this you will need a toffee hammer, or as I like to use a rolling pin.

Keeping the toffee in the mould, place a piece of greaseproof paper over the top. This will help keep all of the toffee pieces in the mould rather than splintering everywhere. Then grab your rolling pin or toffee hammer and begin hitting the toffee.
The toffee should break into pieces. Keep hitting it until you get the desired size chunks.

The bonfire toffee can be stored in an airtight container, just place greaseproof paper as layers. This will reduce the toffee sticking together. The toffee should last for at least a week or two in the airtight container. You may find the longer it is left, the stickier and softer it becomes…still delicious though!

And that is an easy bonfire toffee recipe for you to make and enjoy this bonfire night!

Let me know what you think of this bonfire toffee recipe. Have you had treacle toffee before? Let me know in the comments below!

Bonfire Toffee Recipe – Video

Here is the video version of this post, if you find it easier to follow a video. Don’t forget to give the video a big thumbs up if you have enjoyed it and subscribe to my channel. It would be lovely to see you over there as well!

Bonfire Toffee Recipe – Save it!

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