HALLOWEEN is nearly here and the clocks go back this weekend, which means one thing: Bonfire Night is rapidly approaching.

Yes folks, it's time to remember Plot Night as it's known around our neck of the woods.

Since we are hopefully going to be heading out into the cold chilly evening to celebrate Guy Fawkes’s failed plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament, I could not think of anything better to share with you than my grown-up autumnal sweet treat, Plot Toffee.

This jaw-breaking treacle toffee used to be handed out to partygoers to munch on around the warming bonfire, particularly in the North Yorkshire area of England where it was reputedly first made centuries ago.

Bonfire toffee is usually a hard toffee that contains butter, brown sugar, black treacle and golden syrup and other ingredients.

It has a very rich deep molasses taste from both the sugars and the black treacle, becoming chewy as it melts in your mouth. Mmm!

Tradition says it should be cut from a big sheet, and served in chunks.

I have fond memories too of it being stuck to a lollipop stick in a tin foil and bought as a kid on the way home from school, and me being warned by my mum about my filling.

If you fancy making your own plot toffee this year, my recipe is very simple and delicious, and I can guarantee once made a second batch will soon be whipped up before a single bonfire has been late.

But be warned, approach the recipe with caution: toffee gets very, very hot as it is boiled reaching temperatures as high as 140C. This high temperature is important, or your toffee will not be brittle and hard when it sets.

It’s worth investing in a sugar thermometer if you can. That said, the toffee still tastes good even when a little soft and sticky - once made it keeps very well in an airtight tin or container.

Over the last few years I have shared with you my bonfire sticky parkin and parkin pig recipes with fantastic feedback and kind comments.

Last year a nice elderly lady called into work to present me with a very old traditional parkin pig cutter from her father's bakery business from many years ago.

It’s something I will treasure and use every year now for the rest of my life, helping to keep the traditions alive, especially in the schools.

So on a final note, what on earth's happened to all the bonfire traditions today?

I suppose, they would still take American Express at the dentist!

Have you missed any of Baker Mike's Friend In Need articles in the Keighley News?

Never fear, simply visit keighleynews.co.uk, click on What’s On then Food & Drink, and you’ll find dozens of Mike’s previous recipes.

They range from Scotch Pasty, Mock Goose, Cheese Gromit and delicious fishcakes to Eton Mess, coconut pyramid and Simnel fruitcake.