Cashew & Macadamia Nut Toffee

I make a variation of this regularly to use in or on cupcakes, on crepes, sprinkled over any dessert or enjoyed alone with a cup-a-tea.  Most recently I succeeded (on the second attempt) in making a toffee using large whole macadamia nuts and cashew pieces to be sprinkled on top of a crepe with ice-cream. Go on ... you know you want to.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups of sugar
• 2/3 cup of macadamia and cashew nuts, or any nuts of your choice
• 20 - 30cm saucepan or clean, non-stick frypan
• Greaseproof/wax paper and baking tray

Method

• Line bottom of saucepan with sugar, heat on a low heat, slowly, until sugar starts to brown, watching closely but not stirring. If the sugar is melting in some sections but not others, shake the saucepan a little and let the loose sugar gently slide over the melted sugar but do not stir it!
• Eventually, after about 5 - 15 minutes (depending on your saucepan and heat source) you will have golden brown liquid in the saucepan with no visible sugar grains.
• Turn off heat.
• Add in nuts and stir immediately, covering them in the liquid toffee.

• DO NOT LICK THE SPOON. IT'S HOT.

• Pour this out onto the baking tray, lined with wax paper, spreading it out into the shape you want. Work quick, it starts to set as soon as the heat is turned off.

• You could also use small cupcake cases and make shaped toffees, or silicone icecube trays with liquid toffee can make great shapes which can be popped out easily when cooled!
• Allow to cool (on the bench, or in the fridge away from anything that might spoil from the heat)
• Put your blob of toffee inside a layer of wax paper, put a towell over it, and BASH IT with a meat hammer or the end of a hard utensil until it crumbles into chunks.

Delicious sprinkled over a crepe .... finishing touch? A nip of baileys!

This variation uses just cashew pieces and was broken up into small pieces to put on top of a cupcake. Mmmmmm!