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Tameletjie
Tameletjie: Cape hard toffee set in folded paper cups with pine nuts
Children in old Cape Town spent their pocket money on tameletjie from the corner shop: amber slabs of hard toffee set in little folded paper cases, studded with pine nuts and sometimes almonds. It is nothing more than sugar and water boiled to the hard-crack stage, so it snaps cleanly and slowly melts on the tongue into a deep caramel with a faint bitterness, the toasted nuts adding a buttery crunch. Make it for a church bazaar, wrap it as a gift, or keep it in a tin for after-dinner coffee. Stirring once the syrup boils is what ruins most batches, because it makes the sugar crystallise into a cloudy, grainy mass. Hot sugar burns badly, so keep children well away from the pan. Chef's tip: brush the inside of the pan with a wet pastry brush as it boils to wash down any sugar crystals clinging to the sides.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 14 oz white sugar
- ¾ cup water
- ¼ tsp cream of tartarhelps stop the toffee crystallising
- 2 ⅛ oz pine nutsor flaked almonds
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Cut twelve 12 cm squares of greaseproof paper and fold up the edges of each to make a shallow tray about 7 cm across, pinching the corners. Stand them on a baking tray.
Step 2: Toast 2 ⅛ oz pine nuts in a dry frying pan over a medium-low heat, shaking, until golden and fragrant, then divide them between the paper cases.
4 minStep 3: Put 14 oz white sugar, ¾ cup water and ¼ tsp cream of tartar in a heavy, light-coloured saucepan. Stir over a low heat only until every grain of sugar has dissolved and the liquid is clear.
4 minStep 4: Turn the heat up to medium-high and boil without stirring at all, brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, until the syrup reaches 300°F on a sugar thermometer and has turned a light amber. Without a thermometer, drop a little into cold water: it should set at once into a brittle thread that snaps.
12 minStep 5: Take the pan off the heat and let the bubbles settle for 30 seconds. Carefully pour the toffee over the nuts in each case, filling them about 5 mm deep.
Step 6: Leave at room temperature until completely hard and cold, about 30 minutes. Store in an airtight tin, with paper between layers, for up to 2 weeks; humidity makes it sticky.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 160 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 33 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tameletjie take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of white sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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