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The toffee and the berries The Best Toffee in the History of the World

You really won't believe this toffee: tart, rich and brown-sugary as a good toffee should be, with the added tang of wild low-bush berries from the boreal forest. Thousands swooned over low-bush cranberry toffee at the Yukon Riverside Arts Festival in August of 2011, and last weekend during our book signing at Aroma Borealis in Whitehorse one fellow bought a copy of The Boreal Gourmet on the strength of the toffee alone. When he told me this I said Eek! But it's not the in the book! And I had to promise to put the recipe up here this weekend. So here you go, my current favourite thing to make with low bush cranberries. (If you can't find low-bush, you in the unlucky south, try regular store-bought cranberries.)

Berries, butter, brown sugar and cream.

Low Bush Cranberry Toffee

1 ½ cups (375 ml) low bush cranberries

½ cup (125 ml) 35 percent cream

3 tbsp (45 ml) butter

1 cup (250 ml) brown sugar

Cook cranberries for five minutes over medium heat, just until the juice starts to appear. (If you've taken the berries right from the freezer, add a tablespoon of water just so they don't scorch. For store-bought cranberries, you may need to add more water.) Remove from heat, strain out the water, blend and press through a sieve. (Use the pulp for muffins, smoothies or mixed into your morning oatmeal.) Combine cranberries in a wide saucepan with cream, butter and sugar and heat to boiling over medium heat. Cook at medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches a temperature of 125C on a candy thermometer, or the firm ball stage; this usually takes about 15 minutes. Pour into a buttered 8-inch square pan. Cut into small squares before the toffee has completely cooled. Remove from pan and wrap in waxed paper squares.

Getting to the firm ball stage: a photo gallery

  1) The mixture has just come to the boil over medium heat. Note the foam at the edge of the pot. This will soon disappear.

2) The mixture has been boiling for five minutes, and is a mass of large, rapidly moving bubbles.

3) At this stage, a bit of mixture dropped from a spoon into a glass of cold water breaks apart.

  4) Five minutes later, a drop of mixture holds together.

 5) The same drop removed from the water still holds together and forms a soft ball.

6) Five to seven minutes later, the mixture has darkened in colour until it looks like the famous Brunello di Montalcino, the exquisite Tuscan wine--a deep, browny-red. It has reached the firm ball stage.

 7) Now, a drop of mixture forms a shape rather like a tadpole.

 8) At this stage, when the ball is removed from the water you can roll it between the fingers and it forms a firm ball.

 You are ready to pour the toffee into the pan and let it cool. Remember to cut it while it's still fairly malleable. Then chill. The toffee is much easier to remove from the pan when it's cold.