Toffee

toffee the modern British name for a sweet formerly called ‘taffy’. The older name survives in the USA, but British toffee and American taffy are not quite the same.

Much toffee is still home made. The basic form of British toffee is made from a syrup of sugar and butter with some addition to inhibit crystallization, such as syrup or treacle in place of part of the sugar, or an acid such as lemon juice. It is cooked to the soft or hard crack stage (for soft or hard toffee respectively; see sugar boiling) with little or no stirring, and is poured straight out to set without pulling or other working. Many kinds of additions and flavourings are possible; treacle, nuts, chocolate, cream or sour cream, mint flavouring, and even whisky are among those used.