Gräddkola (Swedish Toffee)

I'm on a Swedish Christmas foods kick recently, and one of the things I distinctly remember eating way too much of as a kid is what we call gräddkola, or cream toffee. This recipe was handed down from generation to...eh, not really, but it's from my mom's recipe book and it came out really well.

I can think of healthier things to eat, but it's pretty spectacular as far as candy goes.

Gräddkola

1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup half-and-half
2 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup golden syrup (or a mix of 1/3 cup molasses and 2/3 cup light corn syrup)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
chopped almonds (optional)

Mix all ingredients apart from the vanilla extract in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Turn to low heat (I used 2 on a scale of 1-10) and stir occasionally, about every 10-15 minutes. Stir with either a heavy wooden spoon or a plastic spoon - note that the residue on the spoon will be very sticky after a couple of hours. That's right, you'll be letting this simmer over low temperature for about 4 hours. Add the vanilla after 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Once 4 hours have passed, pour cold water into a drinking glass. Place about a teaspoon of the toffee in the water, then pull the toffee out and try to shape it into a ball. If you are unable to, the toffee needs to cook longer. The softer the ball is, the softer the toffee will be (which means it will be harder to handle). The longer you cook, the harder the candy, so if you do go past the 4 hours, make sure you check it every 15 minutes or so. Mine was done after almost exactly 4 hours and came out a little on the soft side.

Butter a 9x13 inch glass baking pan. Once the toffee is ready, pour it into the pan and leave until completely cooled. Next cut the toffee into bite-sized pieces, using a knife or scissors (I used scissors and it worked perfectly). Wrap the toffee in wax paper. Try not to eat all of them before you've let at least someone else try one!

The toffee will last for about a month if kept in a cool and dark place (but not in the fridge).