Lightly grease a toffee tray with
margarine.Put the margarine, white sugar and
water in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring all
of the time. When all of the margarine has
melted, add the golden syrup. Continue to stir
until the sugar has dissolved. Boil slowly, over
a low heat, stirring occasionally.
You need to boil off enough water for the
mixture to solidify when cooled to room
temperature but you also need to keep the
temperature of the mixture low enough during
cooking to prevent burning. The test involves
getting a sample of mixture on a teaspoon and
dropping it into cold water - either in a cup or
a saucer.
When the test yields a moderately hard result,
add the peanuts. They will cool down the toffee
and you need to heat them back up to roast them
for a few minutes (remember that they will have
already been roasted to some extent). Stirr
continuously as they will burn if given the
opportunity.
When the mixture has started boiling again,
test the mixture for hardness as described above
(some moisture will come out of the peanuts)
and they should finish roasting when the hardness
is right (this wants to bee a little harder
than the bonfire toffee as it is supposed to be
brittle).
Carefully pour into a greased toffee tray
making sure that the peanuts are distributed
evenly and let cool. When cold, break up with a
toffee hammer or the handle of a heavy knife or
spoon.