History of English Toffee - Cache Toffee Collection (2024)

What is English toffee, exactly? What makes it so unique compared to other varieties? Here’s what you need to know about the history of this delicious and quintessentially British candy.

What Is Toffee?

Before we discuss what makes English toffee stand out compared to other varieties, let’s start with the basics: toffee is a relatively simple hard candy constructed from butter and some sort of sugar. While that may sound easy, toffee is temperamental and can be affected by temperature, altitude, and humidity, to name a few.Toffee is delicious on its own, but most artisanal toffee recipes include wrappings of chocolate, nuts, and a host of other ingredients.

Understanding English Toffee History

Now, let’s dive into the past to understand the history behind this classic candy. Toffee didn’t appear in dictionaries until after 1825, making it something of a newcomer to the world of candy.Most food historians agree that the sweet treat likely originated in Wales and then rose to prominence across Britain and Europe where supplies of butter and eventually imported sugar were plentiful. English toffee maintains its extreme popularity due to its unique flavor profile and regional variations.

What Makes English Toffee Special?

Technically speaking, there are two main types of toffee that we Americans consume. One, which sometimes gets misnamed as “English toffee,” is actually called “buttercrunch.” The other is the genuine sort of English toffee.What’s the main difference between the two? What gives real English toffee its unique flavor? As you might expect, it’s a difference of ingredients.Buttercrunch, the Americanized version of toffee, uses granulated white sugar or high fructose corn syrup in its creation. Americanized toffee may include nuts, while a completely traditional British toffee will not. On the other hand, English toffee uses pure cane sugar, brown sugar, or molasses as its sweet base and always involves chocolate.

History of English Toffee - Cache Toffee Collection (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between English toffee and regular toffee? ›

English Toffee is a nationwide favorite that is easily made with only a few ingredients. The difference between regular toffee and English Toffee is one important ingredient – butter! I make English Toffee throughout the year for special occasions and it's always a big hit.

Which is the world's number one toffee? ›

Lotte Coffy Bite Toffee

This is the best toffee in the world that has a rich flavor of coffee. Its creamy texture makes it mouthwatering to all of us. This brand also manufactures Caramilk, Lotte Eclairs, Lacto Kind, Spout gums, and Booproo.

What is the origin of English toffee? ›

Toffee didn't appear in dictionaries until after 1825, making it something of a newcomer to the world of candy. Most food historians agree that the sweet treat likely originated in Wales and then rose to prominence across Britain and Europe where supplies of butter and eventually imported sugar were plentiful.

What's the difference between Buttercrunch and toffee? ›

What's the difference? Primarily, the difference rests in the ingredients. Toffee in Britain is made with brown sugar, whereas buttercrunch is made with white granulated sugar. The differences do not stop there, however, since the delectable buttercrunch is usually made with a nice variety of nuts and other flavorings.

Should English toffee be refrigerated? ›

+ What is the shelf life? Three months unopened, if stored in a cool dry place. + Can it be refrigerated? Yes, but it needs to be set out of the refrigerator to bring to room temperature before serving.

Why add baking soda to toffee? ›

For better crunch, add baking soda

Those bubbles remain trapped in the syrup as it cools in the pan, yielding toffee whose consistency is lightly crunchy rather than hard: think light-textured American-style biscotti vs.

What is the most sold candy in the world? ›

Best-selling Candy in the World
  • Snickers.
  • Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
  • Toblerone.
  • Kit Kat.
  • Dove.
  • Cadbury Dairy Milk.
  • Twix.
  • Milka.
Oct 22, 2020

What is America's #1 candy? ›

Top-selling chocolates and sweets. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are the No. 1 selling candy brand in the United States, consisting of white fudge, milk, or dark chocolate cups filled with peanut butter. They were invented by H.B. Reese after he founded the H. B. Reese Candy Company in 1923.

Is toffee a junk food? ›

Verdict: Junk. Intense Dark Toffee Interlude (55% cacao) also fits into category E. A whole bar (3.5 oz.) contains 50% of one's daily allowance for fat, almost 100% of saturated fat and over 12 teaspoons of sugar.

What do Americans call toffee? ›

Historically, taffy has been considered an American term while toffee is the term used by the British. Those studying the history of the two believe that both gained popularity during the 19th century.

What are the facts about English toffee? ›

English toffee is a sweet candy that people make from sugar, butter, and almonds. It has a crunchy texture and a buttery, nutty flavor. English toffee is also known as butter crunch or almond crunch. It originated in England in the late 1800s.

What is toffee in British slang? ›

If you say that someone cannot do something for toffee, you mean that they are extremely bad at it: He can't paint for toffee!

Do you stir toffee constantly? ›

Unlike other homemade candy and many caramel recipes that require constant stirring, toffee is different. It only needs to be stirred occasionally, otherwise it has a tendency to crystallize (turn sugary and grainy) or separate. I leave my stirring spoon in the pot the entire time.

Why does the butter separate when making toffee? ›

If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out. It can also be caused by the mixture being heated unevenly (if the pan has a thin base and has hot spots).

Is butterscotch the same as toffee? ›

Toffee vs Butterscotch

While butterscotch is cooked to a soft-crack stage, toffee is produced by allowing that same butter and brown sugar mixture to reach the hard-crack stage. Butterscotch tends to be chewy and pliable; toffee is brittle and more breakable.

What is the difference between toffee UK and US? ›

English toffee and American toffee diverged with the preferred use of sugar type. English toffee is made with brown sugar, while American-style toffee, known as buttercrunch is made with white table sugar (granulated sugar). Buttercrunch is typically dusted with crushed almonds or other nuts.

What makes English toffee separate? ›

If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out.

Is English toffee hard or soft? ›

Toffee is a hard candy made by cooking a sugar syrup with butter to the hard crack stage, 300–310°F (149–154°C), and then pouring it out to cool. It can have inclusions or not, and it can be made either very dense and hard or can be lightened by adding baking soda when the candy is almost done cooking .

What flavor is English toffee? ›

Toffee is often combined with nuts such as almonds and semi-sweet chocolate to create classic English toffee. This is done by spreading the hot toffee out flat over a sheet pan and topping it with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

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