Srilankan Milk Toffee

Remember the Rick Perry brain freeze the other day during one of those annoying (to me anyway) Republican debates? For those of you who are not tuned into American politics and the Presidential election and the endless debates let me explain.

Each party, there are only 2 here in the US namely Republican and Democrat- has its set of debates to help narrow down the field candidates to have a showdown with the chosen candidate from the other party. These debates are supposed to be eye openers for folks voting in the primaries. Only people registered to the particular party can vote in the primaries. Since President Obama can run again and he is the president there won't be any primary challenge for the Democrats.

Well anyway during one of those debates Rick Perry awkwardly forgot the name of the government agency he wanted to abolish. He wanted to abolish three but remembered only two and the pause was painful for anyone watching. It was me just listening to him on the radio. He is being laughed at and mocked at ever since. I am no closet Conservative nor a Rick Perry sympathizer. But I sure understand the moment and the awkwardness that followed.

It happened to me recently at a job interview. I hate job interviews but that is besides the point. During the interview I suddenly froze on the word that I am supposed to know because I had just waxed eloquent that I knew the topic. Luckily the word came out in the form of a question from the interviewer and I was able to salvage the situation. This incident being fresh in my memory I could identify with the awkwardness of Rick Perry's situation. But alas he had to suffer on national television.

So why is it such a big deal really? Doesn't it happen to most people? We freeze on the names of the people we meet often. We forget the name of the dish we loved as young children but just when we meet the aunt who used to cook the favorite dish the name escapes. Have any awkward brain freezes to share?

Now on to the recipe,
I tasted this sweet milk toffee at my friend's house. She packed quite a few for the kids but I ended up eating most of them. I must have mentioned oh only a few hundred that I have a sweet addiction. Back home when ammayee invariably sent these yummy gulab jamuns every few months I ate them right after I brushed my teeth in the morning. That addicted. So I could not wait to make this toffee what with a can of condensed milk sitting in the pantry. It took me 4 months to make it.


I used palm sugar and that is what gave it the dark brown color. A table spoon of cocoa powder will do the trick if you want the darker color. Using regular white sugar will give it a light caramel color.

Srilankan Milk Toffee
Ingredients
1. 12 oz sweetened condensed milk
2. 1 block of palm sugar (about 3 tbsp) powdered
3. 3/4 cups of sugar (I added raw sugar)
4. 6 tbsp of butter
6. 1/4 cup of coarsely powdered roasted cashews

Method
1. In a sauce pan (I used a non-stick pan) melt the butter and add the condensed milk and sugar.
2. In a low flame stir the mixture till it comes together. When it comes together in a mass turn off the heat (25-30 minutes). The longer it is in the heat the chewy and harder it is going to get.
3. Towards the very end add in the cashews and pour the mixture in a buttered pan.
4. Make slices with a knife while still hot.
5. Let cool and break into individual pieces.