{
    "id": 1070946,
    "title": "Why is my toffee grainy?",
    "slug": "why-is-my-toffee-grainy",
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    "url": "https://sweeties.net/wiki/why-is-my-toffee-grainy/",
    "modified": "2026-09-26T05:23:21+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Grainy toffee means sugar crystals have formed in a sweet that should have none. Stirring, stray crystals and undissolved sugar are the usual causes.",
    "content_text": "Sweets made from boiled sugar fall into two families. Hard sweets, caramels, toffees and nougats are non crystalline: the sugar sets as a smooth, even mass. Fudge and fondant are crystalline, full of tiny sugar crystals that give a creamy texture. Grainy toffee is a toffee that has crossed over into the wrong family: see how is toffee made?\nWhy crystals form\nA boiling sugar syrup holds far more sugar than cold water could. As it cools, it is supersaturated, and the sugar is ready to come out of solution as crystals. Once a few crystals appear, they give the rest something to grow on, and the graininess spreads.\nThe usual causes\nStirring the boiling syrup. Stirring helps crystals start. Recipes for toffee apples, for example, tell you to stop stirring once the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is boiling. Old fudge recipes that were stirred all through the boil turned out crumbly for the same reason.Crystals on the side of the pan. As the syrup boils, sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan above the liquid. If they fall back in, they can seed the whole batch. Cooks brush the sides with a pastry brush dipped in water, or butter the sides of the pan, to wash them back into solution.Undissolved sugar. If the sugar had not fully dissolved before the syrup came to the boil, the leftover grains act as seeds.\nIngredients that help\nSome sugars get in the way of crystals. Glucose syrup and invert sugar, a mix of glucose and fructose, both help stop ordinary sugar crystallising, which is one reason some toffee recipes include golden syrup, which is about 55 per cent invert syrup, or glucose: see what is invert sugar? and what is glucose syrup?\nGrainy on purpose\nGraininess is only a fault when you wanted smooth toffee. In fudge, the crystals are the point, as long as they stay tiny: see why is my fudge grainy?",
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