Introduction: Toffee Coffee Pie!

This is my recipe for a Toffee Coffee Pie!
I hope you all find it yummy!
This is what it says on the tin. It's a pie with a coffee flavour toffee filling. 

Step 1: Getting Your Ingredients Together

For this recipe you will need...
Pastry:
225g plain flour
100g diced soft butter (or 50g/2oz each of lard and butter)
25g caster sugar
30ml/2tbs cold water

For filling:
115g butter
200g sweetened condensed milk
115g soft brown sugar
30ml golden syrup
2tsp instant coffee

Tools you'll need are:
8inch/20cm Flan dish
Set of Scales
A mixing bowl
A Saucepan - make sure this is not a non stick pan
A metal spoon - this is why you want a pan without a non stick coating. Metal will scratch it off!
An oven
A Rolling Pin
Baking beans and baking parchment (optional)


The whipping cream and chocolate are only for decoration, so for now, put them to one side. 

Set your oven to Gas Mark 3 / 170c (you may want to check this, as I only use Gas Mark!)

Step 2: Making Your Pastry

Put your plain flour and caster sugar in a mixing bowl and give a quick stir. Now add the diced butter. 
This is my favourite bit!
Get your (clean) hands into the flour and start rubbing the butter in. This involves getting the butter covered in flour and rubbing between your finger tips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Keep pushing your fingers to the bottom of the bowl and tossing the mixture around. This helps make sure all of the ingredients are well mixed. If you shake the mixing bowl from side to side, the larger lumps will shimmy their way to the top.
The 'breadcrumbs' should have a yellow-ish hue. If you see any white flour, toss it all together and carry on rubbing out any lumps of butter.
I always try to get really fine breadcrumbs. It doesn't matter too much if there are still some slightly larger lumps, as long as they're not as big as when you started! If you rub too much, the breadcrumbs can start clumping.

Add the water and stir until the pastry mixture starts sticking togethe, then get your hands in there and start pressing it all together. I usually get it mostly in a ball, then turn it out onto a work surface and fold/knead the rest of the breadcrumbs in. Don't be afraid to knead the pastry dough a little to make sure it's all together, but don't handle it too much.

Step 3: Rolling Out Your Pastry

Once you've got your pastry dough mixed together properly, shape it with the palm of your hands into a rough ball. 
Flour your (clean) surface and place the dough in the middle. 
Flour the rolling pin. I usually do this by putting some flour in the palm of my hand and rubbing it along and around the pin.
Try to roll the pastry evenly. Keep turning it over and twisting it to try and keep it fairly circular. To make turning easier, flap some of the pastry over the rolling pin and lift it. 
If your pastry tears or breaks, it may be because it's too warm. If so, wrap it up in some cling film and put it in the fridge for half an hour and try again.
This recipe should allow for enough pastry at approximately half a centimetre thick to fit a 20cm flan dish. If like me, you use a slightly larger flan dish, your pastry will be a bit thinner, so try not to do that!
Make sure you have rolled out the right size by placing the dish on top - this will be a rough guide for size.

Step 4: Fitting to Your Pan

Fold the pastry over the rolling pin, lift and slide the pan into the work surface under the lifted pastry. Drape the pastry of the flan dish.
Grabbing an edge of the pastry, gently lift it and using a knuckle on your other hand, press it into the bottom edge of the pan.
If you accidentally tear a small hole, you can patch it up by taking an excess piece of pastry, roll it a bit thinner, drab with water and press over the hole.
Leave the pastry draped over the edge of the pan. This will help prevent shrinking while cooking. If you have them, place the baking beans on top of some baking parchment in the centre of the pan. This isn't vital, it just helps prevent any air bubbles raising while cooking.
Place the pastry in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Step 5: Finishing Your Pastry

When taken out the oven, leave the pastry for a few minutes to cool slightly. When cooled, place on a flat surface, take the rolling pin and roll it over the top of the dish, pressing down onto the cooked pastry. This will break off the excess pastry around the edge. Some of the edge may break off as well, but I'd always rather a crumbly edge than shrunken pastry.
Put to one side. Turn your oven off.

Step 6: Making Your Filling!

Put all the ingredients required for your filling into a pan over a moderate to low heat. Keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted. 
When this is done, turn the heat up. You will need to continuously stir. The sugar very quickly sticks to the pan and then could burn. This is why I use a metal spoon, to really scrap the sugar from the pan. It won't make a very nice noise! You want the mixture to boil. It is going to be very hot as it is a molten sugar mixture, so BE CAREFUL! 
You'll want to keep stirring until the mixture thickens and darkens. The coffee I used was a good quality instant and roast & ground coffee. After about 7 - 10 minutes, it should be done and the coffee should be fully dissolved. If not, keep on the heat and keep going.

Step 7: Filling Your Pie!

When the toffee mix is done, take it off the heat and pour it straight into your pie case. 
As soon as I stopped stirring, the sugar started to stick to the pan. I didn't scrape this into the pie. 
If you want to decorate, your pie is almost done!


(Because I used a slightly larger pie dish, I had to make another layer of the mixture. You shouldn't need to.)

Step 8: Decorating!

This is an optional step.

When the pie is completely cooled, whip up some cream (or get it straight from a squirty can) and pipe it onto the pie. Grate some of the chocolate and sprinkle onto the cream.

Congratulations! You have made a Toffee Coffee Pie! Enjoy!