100 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●DECEMBER 2020
think the ultimate comfort food might
be candy—any kind of candy, from a
store-bought Snickers bar to handmade
chocolate truffles. In addition to giving
us that wonderful sugar rush, candy makes us
feel like we’re kids again. When I had my
specialty-food store, Barefoot Contessa,
the checkout counter was piled high with
glassine bags filled with candy—not fancy
liqueur-soaked bittersweet truffles; rather,
bags of old-fashioned candy corn and M&M’s.
I started making the bags one year because I
thought they’d be fun for Christmas, and they
were so popular that I just kept making them
all year. When customers were checking
out, they’d pick up a bag and say, “Oh, the
kids will love these!” Sure, I would think.
The kids. The kids will never even see them
because you’re going to eat those malted milk
balls on the way home!
While store-bought candy is a treat, there
really is nothing like homemade candy.
Making candy sounds complicated, but for
this White Chocolate Toffee you don’t even
need a candy thermometer. You just make a
caramel, pour it into a cake pan, melt some
white chocolate to pour on top, then sprinkle
it with all kinds of crunchy, salty and sweet
dried fruits and nuts. The hardest part of
the process is waiting the two hours for the
toffee to harden before you break it into
shards and eat it!I
The surest way to make someone happy
this season: Ina Garten’s homemade candy.oee
REPRINTED FROMMODERN COMFORT FOOD.COPYRIGHT © 2020 BY INA GARTEN. PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT © 2020 BY QUENTIN BACON.PUBLISHED BY CLARKSON POTTER/PUBLISHERS, AN IMPRINT OF RANDOM HOUSE, A DIVISION OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE.holiday
eats½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted
butter, plus extra for
greasing the pan
1 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt
12 ounces good white chocolate,
such as Callebaut, roughly
chopped
½ cup salted, roasted cashews
½ cup shelled, salted,
roasted pistachios
½ cup crystallized ginger
(not in syrup), ¼-inch diced
(3 ounces)
½ cup dried cranberries
Fleur de sel- Generously grease a 9-by-12-inch
metal cake pan with butter, making
sure all the sides and corners are
greased. Combine the butter, sugar,
vanilla and kosher salt in a medium
(10- to 11-inch) pot or Dutch oven,
such as Le Creuset. Heat over
medium heat, stirring occasionally,
until the butter melts. Continue
cooking for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring
frequently with a wooden spoon,
until the mixture turns a pale golden
color. Continue to cook, stirring
constantly, until the mixture turns a
deep caramel color. (Be careful, it will
be extremely hot!) Immediately pour
the mixture into the prepared pan,
tilting the pan to distribute it evenly.
Set aside to cool for 5 minutes, then
use a paring knife to score lines in
large irregular serving pieces. Allow
the toffee to cool for 5 minutes, then
retrace the lines you drew with the
paring knife.- Meanwhile, melt the white
chocolate in a heatproof bowl set
over a pan of simmering water (see
note). Pour the chocolate over the
toffee, using a spatula to spread
it evenly. Immediately sprinkle on
the cashews, pistachios, ginger
and cranberries so they’re evenly
distributed. Sprinkle with fleur de sel
and set aside at room temperature
for at least 2 hours, until the
chocolate is completely set. Break
into pieces along the scored lines and
serve at room temperature.
NOTE To melt chocolate, chop it and
place it in a heatproof bowl set over a
pan of simmering water, making sure
the water doesn’t touch the bowl.
Remove from the heat before the
chocolate melts completely and stir,
allowing the residual heat to finish
melting the chocolate.WHITE CHOCOLATE TOFFEE
ACTIVE: 35 min l TOTAL: 2 hr 45 min l MAKES: 25 to 30 pieces