By Kate Hodges
02nd November 2016
There are some essential flame-side snacks; we love floating marshmallows in hot chocolate, mugs of tinned tomato soup, hotdogs and flapjacks. It’s a crime to waste those hot embers too – bake potatoes, and stuff bananas with chocolate, wrap them in tinfoil and roast for 20 minutes (we tip cream and rum over them for an even more indulgent, adult treat). Cinder toffee is a traditional bonfire party snack – it looks a bit like a cascading firework as you make it in the pan, it’s portable – take a bagful in your pocket to your local display, and it gives you a big enough energy boost for a dark walk home. Wooosh!
CINDER TOFFEE
15g diced butter plus extra for greasing the pan; 165g demerara sugar; 165g caster sugar; 60ml golden syrup; 4 tbsp water; Pinch of salt; 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
1. Make sure you’ve got a jam thermometer handy! Grab a heavy-bottomed pan and heat the sugars, salt and butter gently while stirring. Simmer until the mixture starts to bubble and forms a hard ball when dropped in a bowl of cold water, or when it reaches 138C.
2. Whisk in the bicarbonate of soda, and take the pan off the heat as the mixture rises like a crazy yellow volcano (kids will love this bit).
3. Pour it into a very generously greased 24cm tin, and leave to set, then smash it up into splinters when it’s solid.
