Bonfire Toffee: Dark Black Treacle Toffee Shards for Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night

Line an 8-inch square tin with parchment and oil the parchment well. Have a sugar thermometer and a bowl of iced water ready.

Serves 16

Ingredients

• 1 cup (225g) dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (170g) black treacle (or blackstrap molasses)
• 1/2 cup (170g) golden syrup
• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup (120ml) water
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• Neutral oil, for greasing the tin

Instructions

1. Line an 8-inch square tin with parchment and oil the parchment well. Have a sugar thermometer and a bowl of iced water ready.
2. Put the brown sugar, black treacle, golden syrup, butter and water in a deep heavy-based saucepan (the mixture will bubble up high). Warm over low heat, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the butter has melted.
3. Stir in the vinegar, cream of tartar and salt. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a rolling boil. Stop stirring now and let it bubble, swirling the pan occasionally.
4. Boil until the thermometer reads 285°F to 290°F (140°C to 143°C), the soft-crack stage, about 12 to 15 minutes. A drop in the iced water should form hard but slightly bendy threads.
5. Immediately pour the toffee into the prepared tin without scraping the pan bottom. Leave to cool at room temperature for about 2 hours until completely hard. Do not refrigerate or it will turn sticky.
6. Lift the slab out by the parchment onto a board and crack it into shards with the handle of a knife or a small hammer. Store in an airtight tin with parchment between the layers for up to 2 weeks.
7. Bonfire toffee, also called treacle toffee or plot toffee, is the sweet that British children have chewed around November 5th bonfires since Victorian times, when Guy Fawkes Night was celebrated with fireworks, baked potatoes in the embers and bags of this near-black candy. In the north of England and Scotland it also belongs to Halloween, which falls just days before and shares the same fire-lit nights, and the dark bitter edge of the treacle is what keeps it from being merely sweet. Make it a day ahead so the shards have time to set hard.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 170 kcal
• Protein: 0g
• Fat: 6g
• Carbohydrates: 30g
• Fiber: 0g
• Sugar: 28g
• Sodium: 95mg