Butterscotch

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

By Darra Goldstein

Published 2015

  • About

butterscotch refers to both a type of candy and the flavor associated with it. The basic recipe involves cooking together sugar, butter, and sometimes other ingredients such as glucose and flavorings until they reach a temperature of 294°F (146°C), between soft and hard crack. The texture of the finished sweet is hard but easily broken, and the combination of sugar and dairy creates a characteristic and appealing flavor that has become popular in sweet sauces and syrups, especially in North America, where butterscotch is used in numerous desserts, drinks, and other confectionery items, such as icing.