Announcing the results of the 2012 International Chocolate Salon Toffee Competition. In which Marion and I judge four pounds of toffee.
Last year about this time, we were invited to help judge the 2011 Chicago Luxury Chocolate Salon. We were soon almost as stuffed as the seven-pound FedEx package of chocolate that showed up when we said yes. This year, the competition hosts, International Chocolate Salon and Taste TV, wisely broke up the competition into four categories. I chose toffee, and the package we received clocked in at just under four pounds.
The category and I go way back. My first exposure to toffee, though, was inauspicious, to say the least. When I was seven or eight, my friend Susie’s mom took us to a Saturday matinee at a neighborhood movie theater. Rather than pay movie prices for treats, she smuggled in a candy bar for each of us in her purse. As the previews began, she slipped them to us. They were Heath Bars. In the darkened theater, I misread it as Health Bar; I’m sure I scrunched my nose at the idea of some weird, good-for-you “treat” being pawned off on us as candy.
My first bite did nothing to dispel my misreading of the name. It was hard and slightly bitter to my untrained palate and covered with only a thin coating of chocolate, my gold standard for sweets back then (and to a large extent, even now). And even though there were two bars in the package, they were, to quote Woody Allen in Annie Hall, “such small portions.”
At some point in my teenhood, my palate began to mature. I was, after all, a mature, sophisticated teenager (as opposed to the other predominant version of the species, sullen and angry). Suddenly, I couldn’t get enough of Heath Bars—and only partly because the portions remained small.
In its most basic form, toffee is sugar and butter melted together and heated to what is called (somehow appropriately, given its addictive nature) the hard crack stage, about 300ºF. It is then cooled either in molds or in sheets. Toffee is often topped with chocolate; it frequently also has nuts and sometimes, bits of dried fruit. The resulting candy is hard, but slightly chewy as it warms, and—when done right—unmistakably buttery and rich.
The artisan toffees we were judging came from all over the country. Confectioners from Maryland, Illinois, Arkansas, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, California and even Hawaii were represented. Ingredient combinations were all over the map too. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate (which I’ve never quite forgiven for not really being chocolate), almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts and even dried Michigan cherries. Some combinations were intriguing, some jarring.
Ultimately, the winner for us was the candy maker who understood that all the other ingredients were bit players and let the toffee take the lead. Toffee Talk in San Francisco topped our choices in four of seven categories. All of the judges seemed to like it; in the overall competition, Toffee Talk took three gold medals, one silver and two bronzes. You can see all the winners at the International Chocolate Salon website.
Wonderful! We are thrilled you loved our buttery confection. We hope to be the next Heath Bar! Look forward to following your tweets and blog.
Thanks, Ellin! And thanks to Catherine for producing such delicious toffee.
I like my job a lot – but I think I’d like it more if it involved taste-testing toffee…
Ohhhh, I love me some toffee! I’ll have to give you and Marion some of the toffee my sister-in-law makes at Christmastime. It’s fabulous.
Anita, I’m the first to admit that food blogging definitely has its perks.
Pat, we’re going to hold you to this!
Terry can you possibly post a quick explanation as to what the difference is between Toffee, Butterscotch and caramel? I think they all have the same ingredients but are they completed at different stages? I have no idea. All I know is that I love them all and I think it’s the toffee that is responsible for pulling out my fillings as a kid…. but oh sooo goood
No problem! I already told Marion about it and sent my sil a “don’t let me forget to do this” email.
Randi, that’s a good question—and one that has conflicting answers. This post already explains what toffee is—sugar and butter heated to hard crack temperature. Most sources say that butterscotch is pretty much the same thing, but cooked only to soft crack temperature, making it softer and more chewy. In its purest form, caramel is nothing but sugar, heated until it browns or caramelizes, just short of burning, about 320 to 350ºF. Sometimes, cream or milk is added, but not always. And sometimes, butterscotch is made with brown sugar instead of white, but that’s not a hard and fast rule or defining characteristic. Confused? Me too.
Thanks, Pat! Looking forward to it!
Thanks Terry! That does help.