Sunday, February 14, 2010

Bacon Toffee...

The enticement of bacon has jumped from the breakfast table into the mainstream. It's been showing up in some of the damnedest places ~ at birthday parties, school bake sales, at wedding chocolate fountains, even at cocktail parties. It might even turn up in a box of one of your Valentine's presents. And I am not talking the famous English essayist, Sir Francis Bacon either. I’m talking the kind that is cured pig!

It’s no secret that I enjoy a good piece of bacon. And, it’s possible that I seek to integrate bacon into more recipes than I should. But, how can you resist the rich sweetness that is bacon?

The recipe below was emailed to me by a friend, who saw it in the Richmond (VA) Times~Dispatch newspaper and let me tell you, it is easy to whip up. It’s been awhile since I worked with candy and I know I’ve heard various Food Network stars give advice on candy making do’s and don’ts … but they all escaped me yesterday, as I was making up a batch of this recipe. My candy thermometer might have been a little off — I cooked the mixture to the temperature specified in the recipe but it seemed a little darker than I would like. So, I might cook it just a bit shorter next time.

But when I offered the finished product to my skeptical friends and after giving me a few funny looks; they were wowed by the salty sweet combination of this incredible treat. I can say they are hooked for life!




Bacon Toffee

Ingredients:
3 sticks butter
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt, plus more for topping the toffee if desired
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and cut into 1-inch squares

Heavily butter a rimmed baking sheet and cover with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

In a large saucepan, combine butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently with a heat-resistant spatula or a wooden spoon.

Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Make sure the bulb doesn't rest on the bottom of the pan. Stir frequently and continue to boil the mixture about 20 minutes or until it reaches about 290° on the thermometer.

Remove it from the heat and, working quickly, stir in the vanilla and the bacon pieces. Immediately pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread with a spatula to about ¼-inch to ½-inch thickness. Sprinkle with salt, if desired.

Let the toffee cool at least 2 hours before using a hammer to break it into pieces. To keep pieces from flying, cover the toffee with a piece of waxed paper before striking it.

Store it in an airtight container and top each single layer with wax paper to minimize clumping of pieces.

Makes about 2½ pounds

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George’s notes:
  • The process of making toffee involves boiling the ingredients until the mix is stiff enough to be pulled into a shape which holds and has a glossy surface. The resulting mixture will typically be poured into a shallow tray and allowed to cool to form a sweet.
  • A popular variant in the US is English toffee, which is a very buttery toffee often made with almonds. It is available in both chewy and hard versions. Heath Bars are a type of candy made with an English toffee core.
  • The word bacon is derived from the Old High German bacho, meaning "buttock", "ham" or "side of bacon", and having a common ancestor with the Old French bacon.


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32 comments:

  1. oh Man does this sounds good. I've got to give this a try. Thanks for sharing George.

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  2. this is very much in the vein of what I'm making Matt for Valentine's Day breakfast...you'll see! Yours looks delicious.

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  3. I've only seen this once before and I was very sceptical. However, if it has your impramatur it must be worth trying. Have a great day, George. Blessings...Mary

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  4. I love toffee but I love bacon more...I wish someone would give me a box of this! Happy valentine's day!

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  5. Bacon is my favorite meat, but I would never have thought of it in candy - I'd like to try it sometime.

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  6. too funny. i just made chocolate covered bacon yesterday, will be blogging that this week.

    Bacon makes everything better!

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  7. Hello it's a good and very special recip...To be tested as soon...a kiss by Luciana

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  8. You know George, it is that sweet-salt thing that I love so much: a piece of dark chocolate sends a message that perhaps I need a few salty nuts. ;)

    Hope your beautiful snow will soon be gone. Happy Valentine's Day. Diana

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  9. i had my doubts about bacon for dessert, but that turned out to be foolishness--it's amazing in every capacity! :)

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  10. This sounds fantastic to me. Bacon is great anytime. I've wanted to try one of those maple bacon donuts I've seen on Food Network. Yum!

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  11. I bet this is great...your photo is amazing! At our Wisconsin State Fair last year, the big thing was chocolate bacon, but I think toffee bacon sounds infinitely more desirable!

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  12. George, bacon makes everything better - even toffee. Happy Valentine's Day.
    Sam

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  13. Toffee and bacon together...mmmmm! I would definitely try! I saw bacon on a chocolate fountain selection. And it was surprisingly good! I like the savory sweet thing!

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  14. great recipe george - thanks for this one - there is no doubt I will be making this!

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  15. Hi George, I've been meaning to drop in on you for eons, and I'm so glad I did.

    What an interesting combination, bacon and toffee, and not one I would ever have thought of trying. But if you say it's good, I believe you.

    BTW, I love the quote from GBS.

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  16. Mmmmm, I do like good bacon and am very fond of toffee...so why not? It's always fun to try something new.

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  17. Just looking at the photo makes me salivate. There is something about that sweet a savoury combination ...

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  18. Oh goodness gracious, does this sound wonderful! This toffee represents so many flavors: smokey, salty, and sweet. I love it:D

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  19. This is my dream Valentine treat. Toffee and bacon? Only the truly obsessed could dream up such an incredible treat. Well done, George. You should think about marketing this.

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  20. My husband would love this! Anything with bacon!!

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  21. I'm going to accept full blame for clicking on this post and then put it out of my mind. However, I will most likely dream about this bacon toffee tonight and NOBODY can stop me from that!

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  22. Bacon and toffee? I must say , the photo is delicious looking and it sounds intriging, George. Since I love bacon that has found it's way into the maple syrup next to pancakes, I think including it in toffe sounds yummy!

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  23. Oh my, you have upped the ante my friend! I will have to give this a go.

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  24. Sweet-salty is the best. I love bacon with chocolate and it seems like it would be wonderful with the toffee. ;-)

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  25. hi george never heard of that but i love swaet and salty dishes !! cheers from ParisPierre

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  26. Bacon is the new candy! The first time I heard of chocolate-covered bacon was a couple of years ago, when Iron Chef Michael Symon was doing the show Dinner Impossible. His challenge that week was to create a gourmet dinner from ingredients found in the food places on a boardwalk in New Jersey. Being the "pork guy" he took bacon from one place and ran it through the conveyor belt in the chocolate shop. Since then, I've heard of this everywhere, but this is the first time I heard of bacon toffee. What will be the next new food craze? The possibilities are endless!

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  27. Bacon seems to be the latest fad and perfect for bacon Lovers. My husband and 4 sons are in that group! your recipe looks good enough to eat.Hope you had a wonderful Valentines Day
    Rita

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  28. I love toffee and I love bacon. This is going to be a natural for me....I don't make candy often, but am going to this time! Kudos George!

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  29. I've never heard of bacon toffee, going to try this though it sounds delicious.

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  30. I'm wondering if it would be going to far to then dip the bacon toffee in chocolate. maybe just for half the batch...
    There is some bacon at the farmers market near my work which is so delicious but pretty expensive: i think I just found something worthy of the expenditure!

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  31. innbrooklyn... I am a huge fan of "double dipping" so I would think your idea would be a great way to make this toffee even more delicious. Maybe dip one corner in dark chocolate & the opposite corner in milk chocolate.

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  32. I'm a big fan of bacon sweets. Matt gave me a box of chocolate covered bacon toffee for Christmas. I thought that version was a little too smokey so I may just need to try making my own

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