History of English Toffee - Cache Toffee Collection (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between toffee and English toffee? ›

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.

Cooks in England first created English toffee recipes in the late 1890s. At first, they boiled sugar and butter together. In the early 1900s, cooks began adding almonds to the mixtures. This gave the candy its signature crunchy texture and nutty taste.

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.

For maximum taste and texture, we do recommend that you either enjoy your toffee immediately, or store it in a refrigerator or freezer. Once opened, unrefrigerated product will retain maximum freshness for about a week. Refrigeration adds 3-6 months of shelf life, while freezing adds up to a year or more.

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.

Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture. Think you can save time by bringing the syrup to a full rolling, popping boil in order for it to darken more quickly? Think again.

Our English Toffee is World Famous for good reason - cooked to perfection so it melts in your mouth and covered with the finest milk chocolate and fresh roasted almonds.

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).

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 19^th century.

So, is there a difference between English toffee and almond roca? They are pretty much the same thing. English toffee is a buttery, crunchy candy that you can make with or without nuts, and almond roca is basically just a brand name for the same candy.

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 .

English toffee and peanut brittle are both candies made with butter and sugar, but there a significant differences. Toffee has a much higher proportion of butter than brittle and that is what gives it a more pliable texture than that of brittle.

Use a spatula to spread softened chocolate into a thin, even layer. Sprinkle nuts over the chocolate and press down slightly; wearing a plastic bag over your hand will minimize the mess. Place toffee in the refrigerator until set, about 1 hour.

The toffee can be frozen, thawed, and refrozen without harming its rare taste. Some customers subdivide our toffee into smaller quantities in airtight freezer bags. We recommend serving the toffee at room temperature, although many of our customers tell us they love it cold.

If there's a significant change in flavor or if the candy tastes off, it's time to bid farewell. Keep in mind that it's perfectly okay to take a small taste to judge this -- you're unlikely to get sick from a tiny piece of expired candy.

In America we call most toffee, English Toffee. What's the difference between English and American toffee? The main difference is that traditional English toffee is created without nuts, while American toffee is created with a variety of nuts. The most common nuts being the almond.

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.