I never liked coffee. Nasty, bitter, grown up stuff, usually consumed alongside copious amounts of those disgusting cigarettes, and hugely bad for you. And yet, I found my tastes maturing a while ago, allowing me to enjoy wonderful foods I used to bear, but not enjoy, like tomatoes, spicier foods, incredibly dark chocolate, flowers, some cheeses, some spices, and yes, even the smell, if not the flavor of coffee, the awful stuff itself. One day I was encouraging my mom to start drinking tea instead of coffee again, the next I found myself sniffing her half-empty cups of Peet's. And one night when i was buried under a pile of overdue homework i even tried a little sip of it. Bleagh! Still too bitter... And yet coffee flavored caramels?- yum! So, with my favorite toffee recipe and a few changes of my own, in hand, and, of course the coffee challenge in ,mind, I set out to make my very own coffee candy!
This, if I do say so myself, is a wonderful recipe!(she said modestly... ;) ) crumbly (not tooth-breaking material!), butterscotch-y, sweet, lent a wonderful smoothness by a generous coating of dark chocolate, and, of course, with a distinct, yet not overwhelming, coffee flavor!

Step 1: Gather Les IngrÃ¨dientes!

6 tbsp black coffee of your choice
1 stick minus 1 tbsp butter
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp very finely ground coffee (optional)
5 oz. or 1 cup chopped chocolate

Step 2: Make Some Toffee!

1. Cover a baking with aluminum foil and lightly grease with a tiny bit of butter

2. Fill a glass with cold water and some ice. Put that and a small spoon next to your stove. In a medium heavy-duty saucepan heat the water, butter, salt, and both sugars. Cook, stirring as little as possible, until a bit of liquid dropped into the glass of water instantly becomes hard and brittle and snaps crisply. Have the vanilla and baking soda handy.

3. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla.

4. Quickly pour the mixture over the nuts on the baking sheet. Try to pour the mixture so it forms a relatively even layer. (If necessary, gently but quickly spread with a spatula, but don’t overwork it.)

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the toffee has cooled completely, put it in the oven for about 10 minutes, until it looks opaque and testing a bit proves it to be crumbly.

6. Working quickly, use a sharp knife to cut it into squares. Cool thoroughly.

7. Now put your chocolate into a small bowl and pop it in the microwave or melt over a pot of simmering water.

8. Use a fork to drop your toffee pieces one by one into the molten chocolate then replace on the baking sheet. Chill.