Coffee and cardamom toffee recipe

This easy coffee and cardamom toffee makes a smart treat and is the perfect foodie gift for special occasions. Tie with a bow or break into pieces, pop into a cellophane bag and finish with a pretty ribbon. There is something quite nostalgic and old-fashioned about toffee, but coffee and cardamom bring it up to date - and taste great together. This recipe makes about 20 pieces of toffee.

Ingredients

• sunflower oil, for brushing the tin
• 125g unsalted butter, diced
• 200g caster sugar
• 75g molasses sugar
• 2 rounded tbsps
• golden syrup
• 2tsps instant coffee granules
• 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 5–6 cardamom pods

Method

1. Brush the inside of a 17cm square baking tin with sunflower oil.
2. Place all the ingredients except the cardamom pods in a medium-sized pan and add 75ml water. Crack the cardamom pods using a pestle and mortar; remove the green husks and finely grind the little black seeds. Add to the pan and place over a low to medium heat. Stir to melt the butter and completely dissolve the sugars.
3. When the sugars have dissolved, raise the heat slightly and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring from time to time. Continue to cook steadily until the toffee registers 126°C/260°F (hard ball stage) on a sugar thermometer.
4. Remove the pan from the heat, give the toffee a quick whisk and pour into the greased baking tin. Leave to cool and harden before breaking into pieces and packaging in waxed paper.