Chocolate Almond Toffee - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb raw almonds, skin on
1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
10 oz good-quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
None None Vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Preparation

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Pulse almonds in food processor to form large chunks. Remove 1/3 of almonds and set aside. Process remaining almonds until coarsely ground. Set aside.
Place butter in saucepan on medium heat and begin to melt. Stir in sugar. Cook for 15 mins, stirring constantly. Mixture will turn from yellow to off-white and become more elastic. When color starts to darken slightly, add vanilla and almond chunks to pan.
Cook for a further 5 to 7 mins until nuts begin to toast (if mixture starts to sweat a few beads of butter, remove from heat).
Pour toffee mixture onto prepared span and spread evenly. Cool.
Melt chocolate in microwave on low power for 2 to 3 mins (or use double boiler; don't let any water splash into chocolate). Pour melted chocolate over cooling toffee and, using spatula, spread into corners of pan. Sprinkle ground almonds evenly over top.
Refrigerate toffee for at least 1 hour to harden. Break slab into pieces and serve with ice cream, if desired.