Vosges Haut-Chocolate calls their product toffee, but it’s actually an all-American creation, buttercrunch. Call it what you want, this confection is a nouvelle combination of roasted, salted pecans and walnuts. Dipped in milk chocolate, it’s a combination of salty and sweet.
May 2006
Updated May 2009
|
|
The ABCs Of Toffee
Page 2: The Difference Between Toffee & Buttercrunch
This is Page 2 of a four-page article. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.
Toffee Versus Buttercrunch, Butterscotch & Caramels
What’s the difference between toffee and butterscotch? Toffee and taffy? And where does caramel fit in?
American-Style Toffee Is Buttercrunch
The softer product, also called buttercrunch or almond buttercrunch, is an American invention. One of the best-known products is Almond Roca, launched in 1923 by  Brown & Hale of Tacoma, Washington. (Roca means “rock” in Spanish. In those days, most almonds came from Spain and the name suited the crunchy center.) To make buttercrunch, toffee is coated with chocolate and roasted almond pieces.
Many producers of buttercrunch call their products “toffee” or “almond toffee”—or worse, English toffee—adding to the confusion. Classic English toffee is unadorned. Sorry folks, but if it’s covered with chocolate and nuts, it’s buttercrunch. Why do producers insist on calling it “English toffee?” Our guess is ignorance or because they think it will sell better. Are people entitled to call things what they want? We can’t give a legal opinion, but it’s like calling an apple tart an apple galette, when it isn’t a galette, which is a very specific type of crust. It is confusing and misleading to the consumer...but at this point, it’s a losing battle.
Purchase Almond Roca.
The Difference Between Caramels, Butterscotch & Toffee
Caramels are the softest of this group of candies, butterscotch is harder and toffee is the hardest. This is based on both ingredients and at how high a temperature the ingredients are boiled. Here’s a comparison:
- Butterscotch and toffee are made by combining sugar, butter and water.
 Classic English toffee has no other ingredients than those—no vanilla, no chocolate, no nuts.
Toffee, made in a slab and broken up. Commercial toffee is made in a mold. Photo by Fertnig Photography | IST. - Butter toffee is a redundant term: Toffee is made with butter, except in situations where mass marketers substitute cheaper fats.
- Butterscotch and American-style toffee, as opposed to English toffee, can add vanilla and other flavorings. Butterscotch is then boiled to the soft-crack stage (270°F to 290°F on a candy thermometer), toffee to a hard-crack (295°F to 310°F).
- Caramels add milk or cream (and sometimes, flavors) and are cooked at a lower heat, to the firm-ball stage (248°F). Both of these factors make them softer and chewier.
- If it’s soft, it’s caramel. There are numerous candies on the market called “toffee” that are actually caramel. More than a few caramel apples are erroneously called “toffee apples.” Feel free to point out to the vendor that if, in fact, there were toffee on the apples, you wouldn’t be able to bite into them.
Continue To Page 3: What Is Taffy
Go To The Article Index Above
© Copyright 2005-2009 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.
|
|
|
|
