Keeping up

One of my blogging acquaintances has also just undertaken a major move; she posted the other day that she got everything in their house unpacked and put away in two days.

::crickets chirping::

Sitting here on Delivery Day +5, with boxes all around, I can confidently promise you that that will not be happening at casa Roving Lemon. I haven’t even found the cutting boards yet. Thus, I’m essentially still in a TUK – although it gets a little bit better stocked with each passing day. But until the cupboards and pantry are full, I’m still in the market for recipes that require a minimum of equipment and ingredients.

Chocolate drizzled cinder toffee

adapted from Nigella Express

I made this to bring as a hostess gift during my weekend of displacement activitycooking a couple of weeks ago. Also known as hokey pokey or honeycomb, this is what you find on the inside of Crunchie or Violet Crumble bars, and is like a science experiment you can eat.

100 g/3 oz sugar

4 Tbsp/60 g/2 oz maple syrup

2 tsp/10 g bicarbonate of soda/baking soda

100 g/3 oz dark chocolate

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and put to one side.

Put the sugar and syrup in a saucepan, and stir to mix. According to Nigella, don’t stir it once you’ve put it on the stove (over medium-low heat for those of us who fear caramel).

Keep an eye on the mixture as it melts, then turn to “goo” (again, according to Nigella), then starts bubbling. This should take about 3 minutes in all, and you're supposed to look for it to turn the color of maple syrup. Since mine started out that color, I just kept an eye on the time and the activity in the pan.

Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the bicarb/baking soda. The mixture will immediately lighten in color and become puffy. Pour out of the pan onto the lined baking tray and spread out to an even thickness.

Leave to set in a cool place for at least 30 minutes before applying chocolate.

When ready to top with chocolate, melt chocolate using your preferred method. (I put mine in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until it was smooth and shiny.)

Dip a fork in the melted chocolate and then drizzle all over the toffee until coated to your satisfaction. Put aside to cool and set again before chopping or breaking into bite-sized pieces.

Makes enough for 5-6 people to nibble on extensively with coffee after a meal.

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