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Dessert

Everton Toffie

A buttery, sugared candy with almonds, ginger, and lemon rind, boiled until it cracks in cold water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Acton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Everton Toffie

Ingredients

Directions

Make the toffee

  1. Put three ounces of very fresh butter into a brass skillet or small preserving-pan.

  2. As soon as the butter is just melted, add a pound of brown sugar of moderate quality.

  3. Stir gently over a very clear fire for about fifteen minutes, or until a little of the mixture, dropped into a basin of cold water, breaks clean between the teeth without sticking to them.

  4. When the mixture reaches this point, pour it out immediately, or it will burn.

  5. Add grated lemon rind when the toffie is half done to improve it.

  6. Alternatively, add a small teaspoonful of powdered ginger moistened with a little of the other ingredients as soon as the sugar is dissolved, then stir to combine.

  7. If dropped onto dishes first rubbed with a buttered paper, the toffie when cold can be raised from them easily.

Make the alternative toffee

  1. Boil together a pound of sugar and five ounces of butter for twenty minutes.

  2. Stir in two ounces of almonds blanched, divided, and thoroughly dried in a slow oven, or before the fire.

  3. Let the toffie boil after the almonds are added, until it crackles when dropped into cold water and snaps between the teeth without sticking.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

160Calories
0 gProtein
12 gFat
13 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Eliza Acton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Almond + gingertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  4. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Provides fat and richness, and helps the toffee set smooth and tender rather than grainy.
Brown sugar
Supplies sweetness and colour, and its cooking to a set point creates the toffee's firm, brittle body.
Almonds
Add crunch and nutty flavour that contrasts with the chewy toffee.

The step that matters

Stopping the cook at the right point. Sugar syrup keeps darkening and hardening as it heats. Testing a drop in cold water shows when it reaches the brittle stage; pouring out at that moment prevents scorching and bitterness.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, almond, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, almond, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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