Christmas Toffee Bark

 

Toffee is one of the simplest things to make, and one of the most delicious. I decided to make variations of toffee bark to give to my girlfriends for Christmas and here they are. From top to bottom you have Rocky Road, Cranberry & Pistachio, and Salted Caramel. I used this recipe from Damn Delicious which was very simple but a bit tiring on the arms! 

The Process

Each bark was one recipe batch, using 1 cup butter and 1 cup sugar. When cooking the toffee, you really need to be going at it with a whisk the whole time otherwise it won't be as smooth or as thick. For me it took about 10-15 minutes on medium(ish) heat for the mixture to turn a nice caramel brown. The colour change is quite slow at first but make sure not to over cook it; you don't want burnt toffee! I poured the piping hot mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and let it set before I added the melted chocolate (this made it easier to spread the chocolate with an angled palette knife). 

I used Cadbury Old Gold chocolate and Cadbury Milk Chocolate instead of melts as the melts would create more of a waxy texture than a creamy one. 

For the Rocky Road bark, I used the Old Gold chocolate and topped it with chopped marshmallows, chopped pistachios, shredded coconut, and chopped maraschino cherries. For the Cranberry & Pistachio bark, I used the Milk Chocolate bar. For the Salted Caramel bark, I used the Old Gold chocolate bar and topped it with sea salt. 

The Result

I am not sure if it's due to the humidity/heat of Sydney but the toffee was sweating and the chocolate didn't set as much as I had hoped. I left the bark to set overnight, hoping that by morning I could easily handle it for packaging but no such luck. To crack the bark, I picked up the baking sheet and dropped it on the counter several times and for pieces that were too big, I used a sharp knife to cut them up. 

Once I packaged the bark up, I put them in the fridge so they could set a bit more before I hand them out tomorrow. 

I also feel like I used too much chocolate (4 rows less than a bar) so that could have contributed to it not setting properly. 

The Verdict

I have to say, my favourite one would be the Rocky Road. I love the squishiness of the marshmallows, the crunch of the pistachios, and the subtle coconutty taste. This is a perfect, simple treat to make for yourself or your family, or even to hand out as little Christmas presents (like I am). It's super simple to make and you can definitely have fun and be creative with the toppings!

What would you top your toffee bark with? Let me know!