The mellow, creamy crunch of cashews blends beautifully with the mellow, buttery crunch of the toffee. Pecans or walnuts would work in the same way. For more of a contrast, use a harder nut like almonds or macadamias. Sesame seeds would be lovely in this, or pepitas. Have fun with it!
2cupsgranulated sugar(feel free to substitute half of the granulated sugar for a firmly packed cup of brown sugar for more of a butterscotchy feel)
⅓cuplight corn syrup(6 Tablespoons) I never measure this--I just use 6 "squirts" from the bottle and call it a day
salt, to taste. I probably used about 3/4 teaspoon and thought it could have used a bit more
2cupsnuts or seeds of choice, toasted (if you've bought them pre-roasted, no need to toast)
1Ferraro Milk Chocolate Toffee "orange" broken into segments(use the chocolate you have)
whatever I had left from a bag of Ghiradelli 60% cacao chocolate chips, probably about 3/4 cup (again, use what you have)
fleur de sel or other flaky sea salt such as Maldon, for sprinkling on the finished candy (optional, but not really)
Instructions
In a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat.
Add the sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil, stirring.
Put the lid on the pan and let boil for 2 minutes to wash down any pesky sugar crystals clinging to the sides of the pan.
Take the lid off of the pot and cook without stirring until the mixture reaches 265F.
Slowly and carefully stir in the salt (at this point, the risk of crystallization has pretty much passed).
Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula, until the candy reaches 310F or up to 315F. You do have a bit of leeway here. Just make sure you've reached 310F.
Dump in the nuts and stir them in so they're evenly distributed.
Pour the molten candy out onto a Silpat-lined (or just pan sprayed) half-sheet pan or jelly roll pan and spread out to a uniform thickness with an offset spatula.
Let the candy sit for a minute or two to develop a "skin," and then evenly place your chocolate/s on the candy and let melt. How much chocolate you use is totally up to you. You can cover it with wall-to-wall chocolate or you can leave some space for a thinner covering. My preference is for thin chocolate, so I left plenty of candy peeking out.
Once the chocolate melts, use an offset spatula to spread it out in an even layer.
Sprinkle fairly liberally with the fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt, if using.
Let sit until cool and the chocolate has completely set up.
Cut or break into pieces as large or small as you like and enjoy.