Spending all that time writing the truffle post made me think of the old peanut brittle post I did. It has been languishing on another blog since being created, so I thought I would take the time to reformat it and post it to this relatively more popular blog.
What is the difference between toffee and brittle? Both are slabs of crunchy candy, so where do the differences lie.
Toffee: The first recording of the spelling toffee was in 1862, although other spellings existed as early as 1825 (“Online”). It is believed to be a dialectical variation of taffy (“Taffy”), which itself is a dialectical word originating in 1817 and may have derived from tafia, a molasses liquor made in the West Indies (“Online”). It is suggested that this is shortened from the West Indian Creole French word ratafia (“Online”) meaning a fruit or nut liqueur (“Ratafia” Dictionary.com) described as "fruits or nuts . . . steeped in a sweet spirit base (“Ratafia” US Restaurant Alliance) or a liqueur made from brandy with fruit juice, fruit, and/or wine added (“Ratafia” Free Dictionary). The theory is the original candy was made as a bi-product of the wine production (“Online”). In Britain, both hard and soft toffees are available. Soft toffees are what we in The United States would call caramels (Oulton “Toffee”), though some classify them more like taffies (“What”).
An Internet search turned up this photo of Walker's Nonesuch Original Toffee. In my opinion, this looks very much like American caramels. Of course, I had to try some, but before ordering from Amazon, I decided to check out a local shop called British Home Shoppe. After surveying items like canned rhubarb, I found the candy section. There were many candies I have never heard of and will be back in the future to purchase. However, I found the Walker's toffee for $2.50 and proceeded to the counter. After paying for the toffee, the man behind the counter asked if I wanted him to hammer the toffee. Apparently, part of the British toffee experience is hammering the toffee before unwrapping. I passed on the hammering experience and took the toffee to the car. Here is a picture of a toffee hammer.
Upon unwrapping, it was, indeed, very much like caramel but denser. I had no trouble chewing it, although it did seem to have the consistency of taffy. Maybe using the hammer is an English dental thing? Anyway, U.S. caramels do seem much softer and easier to chew. How did the candy taste? It was buttery. However, I had no problem eating it without the use of a hammer. By the by, those toffee hammers were also used by suffragettes in the early 1910s to smash shop windows as a political protest. This was the weapon of choice because the small toffee hammers could be easily hidden (“Toffee hammer”). To this day, there are stores in England that will not sell a toffee hammer to a minor (Bennett).
Like toffee traditions, toffee recipes also differ between countries. Here, we use white sugar and flavorings, whereas in Britain, the recipe is brown sugar or molasses, butter, and water (Oulton “Toffee”), although I am sure there are many variations I have not come across yet. Americans beware here, because what we call English toffee is not English at all. It is toffee with coatings, such as chocolate and nuts (Chu). This type of candy is known in England as a buttercrunch (“Difference”).
Brittle: The candy term brittle is said to have appeared in 1913 (“Brittle”), although the confection does make its appearance in 19th century American cookbooks (Polaski). In fact, brittle-style candies are said to go way back in history, from an 1847 recipe for groundnut candy to as far back as the halva confection of 16th century Arabia (Olver). When one reads the 1847 recipe, it sounds an awful lot like a recipe for toffee. It consists of boiling molasses, brown sugar, and water and then adding nuts. One change since then has been the addition of baking soda to the recipe to aerate the confection and make it easier to chew. The exact timing of this event is not known to me, but it seems to have taken place some time between 1919 and 1942, based on historic recipes (Olver). So until that time, there was very little difference between brittle and toffee.
The Walker's website does help to clarify a few of definitions. The plain candy is referred to as original or creamy toffee, which is the caramel-like candy I purchased. When nuts are added to the soft toffee, Walker's changes the name from original to English. Great. Just when I accepted that English toffee was an American candy bar, Walker's gives the same name to caramel filled with nuts. The hard toffees offered by Walker's are peanut brittle and sesame crunch. This proves toffee with something in it should have a different name. Add nuts, and it becomes a brittle. Add seeds, and it becomes a crunch? Well, the Walker's Crunch also has chocolate on top, so the topping makes it a crunch, like plain [butter] toffee is called a buttercrunch.
Where, then, do pralines [the New Orleans kind, not the Belgian] fit into all this? After all, they are nut-filled sugar confections. Well, based on the recipes I have reviewed, there are three differences between a brittle and a praline. A brittle recipes uses water, whereas a praline recipe uses milk products, such as milk, evaporated milk, cream, and half-and-half. French pralines were simply candy-coated nuts. When these arrived in Louisiana, local pecans were used and cream was added, making the confection more fudge-like than brittle (“Praline”). The second difference is cooking temperature. Brittles are taken up to hard crack stage, over 300°F, but pralines stay in the soft ball stage around 240°F (“Candy-making”). The last difference I have discovered is a brittle is poured to cool and then broken into bits but a praline is spooned out like a cookie. In fact, Christensen calls pralines cookies instead of candies.
In Conclusion: Brittle and toffee seem to have the same ancestors in candy making history. Technically speaking, a toffee recipe will not include a leavening agent, but a brittle will, most often baking soda. A brittle will be untopped, while a toffee can be coated with chocolate and nuts. This is an English toffee in the States and a buttercrunch in the Kingdom. On the other hand, toffee will have no added ingredients beyond sugar, fat, and water; but brittle can have various additions, from seeds to nuts, and should have no topping. I have even seen recipes for jelly bean and candy corn brittle. Brittle with milk and spooned out is a U.S. praline.
A few points about butter toffee before I close. Butter toffee just means butter was added as part of the recipe. The English recipes normally have butter; the U.S. recipes normally do not. Just add butter, and you have butter toffee. Butterscotch is butter toffee not cooked to a high enough temperature (Chu; Oulton “Toffee”). Soft or creamy toffee is cooked to a lower temperature, and caramels are cooked even lower than that. For my family, butter brickle is simply butter toffee. The recipe on Cooks.com lists sugar, butter, and water; and Oulton (“Butter Brickle”) states, “Brickle is just an old English variant on the word brittle.” This is confirmed by The Free Dictionary (“Brickle”).
As always, I welcome your comments. Click on the Comment link below; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.
References:
Bennett, Derek. “Why Can't Under Sixteens Buy Toffee Hammers?” Derek Bennett, The Euro Sceptic. N.p., 23 Dec. 2010. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Brickle.” The Free Dictionary. Farlex, Inc., n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Brittle.” Merriam-Webster Online. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Butter Brickle Candy.” Cooks.com Recipe Search. Cooks.com, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Candy-making Stages: The Cold Water Candy Test.” The Accidental Scientist: Science of Cooking. Exploratorium, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Christensen, Emma. “Make Perfect Pralines: Five Secrets from a New Orleans Pro.” The Kitchn. Apartment Therapy, 23 June 2011. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Chu, Michael. “English Toffee.” Cooking For Engineers. CFE Enterprises, Inc., 5 Feb. 2006. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“The Difference Between Buttercrunch & Toffee.&lduo; The Nibble. Lifestyle Direct, Inc., June 2012. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Online Etymology Dictionary.” etymonline.com. Douglas Harper, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Olver, Lynne, ed. “Food Timeline FAQs: Candy.” The Food Timeline. Lynne Olver, 8 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Oulton, Randal. “Butter Brickle.” CooksInfo.com. CooksInfo.com, 2 Dec. 2007. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
-- “Toffee.” CooksInfo.com. CooksInfo.com, 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Pecan Pralines Recipes.” Southern Living. Time Inc., n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Polaski, Helen. “The History of Peanut Brittle Candy.” Life123. Life123, Inc., an IAC Company, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Praline.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 27 May 2013. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Ratafia.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Ratafia.” The Free Dictionary. Farlex, Inc., n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Ratafia.” US Restaurant Alliance. The U.S. Restaurant Alliance®, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Toffee.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Toffee hammer used by militant suffragettes: c.1911.” Museum of London Online Store. Museum of London, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“What is English Toffee?” wiseGEEK. Conjecture Corporation, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
What is the difference between toffee and brittle? Both are slabs of crunchy candy, so where do the differences lie.
Toffee: The first recording of the spelling toffee was in 1862, although other spellings existed as early as 1825 (“Online”). It is believed to be a dialectical variation of taffy (“Taffy”), which itself is a dialectical word originating in 1817 and may have derived from tafia, a molasses liquor made in the West Indies (“Online”). It is suggested that this is shortened from the West Indian Creole French word ratafia (“Online”) meaning a fruit or nut liqueur (“Ratafia” Dictionary.com) described as "fruits or nuts . . . steeped in a sweet spirit base (“Ratafia” US Restaurant Alliance) or a liqueur made from brandy with fruit juice, fruit, and/or wine added (“Ratafia” Free Dictionary). The theory is the original candy was made as a bi-product of the wine production (“Online”). In Britain, both hard and soft toffees are available. Soft toffees are what we in The United States would call caramels (Oulton “Toffee”), though some classify them more like taffies (“What”).
Like toffee traditions, toffee recipes also differ between countries. Here, we use white sugar and flavorings, whereas in Britain, the recipe is brown sugar or molasses, butter, and water (Oulton “Toffee”), although I am sure there are many variations I have not come across yet. Americans beware here, because what we call English toffee is not English at all. It is toffee with coatings, such as chocolate and nuts (Chu). This type of candy is known in England as a buttercrunch (“Difference”).
Brittle: The candy term brittle is said to have appeared in 1913 (“Brittle”), although the confection does make its appearance in 19th century American cookbooks (Polaski). In fact, brittle-style candies are said to go way back in history, from an 1847 recipe for groundnut candy to as far back as the halva confection of 16th century Arabia (Olver). When one reads the 1847 recipe, it sounds an awful lot like a recipe for toffee. It consists of boiling molasses, brown sugar, and water and then adding nuts. One change since then has been the addition of baking soda to the recipe to aerate the confection and make it easier to chew. The exact timing of this event is not known to me, but it seems to have taken place some time between 1919 and 1942, based on historic recipes (Olver). So until that time, there was very little difference between brittle and toffee.
The Walker's website does help to clarify a few of definitions. The plain candy is referred to as original or creamy toffee, which is the caramel-like candy I purchased. When nuts are added to the soft toffee, Walker's changes the name from original to English. Great. Just when I accepted that English toffee was an American candy bar, Walker's gives the same name to caramel filled with nuts. The hard toffees offered by Walker's are peanut brittle and sesame crunch. This proves toffee with something in it should have a different name. Add nuts, and it becomes a brittle. Add seeds, and it becomes a crunch? Well, the Walker's Crunch also has chocolate on top, so the topping makes it a crunch, like plain [butter] toffee is called a buttercrunch.
Where, then, do pralines [the New Orleans kind, not the Belgian] fit into all this? After all, they are nut-filled sugar confections. Well, based on the recipes I have reviewed, there are three differences between a brittle and a praline. A brittle recipes uses water, whereas a praline recipe uses milk products, such as milk, evaporated milk, cream, and half-and-half. French pralines were simply candy-coated nuts. When these arrived in Louisiana, local pecans were used and cream was added, making the confection more fudge-like than brittle (“Praline”). The second difference is cooking temperature. Brittles are taken up to hard crack stage, over 300°F, but pralines stay in the soft ball stage around 240°F (“Candy-making”). The last difference I have discovered is a brittle is poured to cool and then broken into bits but a praline is spooned out like a cookie. In fact, Christensen calls pralines cookies instead of candies.
In Conclusion: Brittle and toffee seem to have the same ancestors in candy making history. Technically speaking, a toffee recipe will not include a leavening agent, but a brittle will, most often baking soda. A brittle will be untopped, while a toffee can be coated with chocolate and nuts. This is an English toffee in the States and a buttercrunch in the Kingdom. On the other hand, toffee will have no added ingredients beyond sugar, fat, and water; but brittle can have various additions, from seeds to nuts, and should have no topping. I have even seen recipes for jelly bean and candy corn brittle. Brittle with milk and spooned out is a U.S. praline.
A few points about butter toffee before I close. Butter toffee just means butter was added as part of the recipe. The English recipes normally have butter; the U.S. recipes normally do not. Just add butter, and you have butter toffee. Butterscotch is butter toffee not cooked to a high enough temperature (Chu; Oulton “Toffee”). Soft or creamy toffee is cooked to a lower temperature, and caramels are cooked even lower than that. For my family, butter brickle is simply butter toffee. The recipe on Cooks.com lists sugar, butter, and water; and Oulton (“Butter Brickle”) states, “Brickle is just an old English variant on the word brittle.” This is confirmed by The Free Dictionary (“Brickle”).
As always, I welcome your comments. Click on the Comment link below; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.
References:
Bennett, Derek. “Why Can't Under Sixteens Buy Toffee Hammers?” Derek Bennett, The Euro Sceptic. N.p., 23 Dec. 2010. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Brickle.” The Free Dictionary. Farlex, Inc., n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Brittle.” Merriam-Webster Online. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Butter Brickle Candy.” Cooks.com Recipe Search. Cooks.com, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Candy-making Stages: The Cold Water Candy Test.” The Accidental Scientist: Science of Cooking. Exploratorium, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Christensen, Emma. “Make Perfect Pralines: Five Secrets from a New Orleans Pro.” The Kitchn. Apartment Therapy, 23 June 2011. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Chu, Michael. “English Toffee.” Cooking For Engineers. CFE Enterprises, Inc., 5 Feb. 2006. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“The Difference Between Buttercrunch & Toffee.&lduo; The Nibble. Lifestyle Direct, Inc., June 2012. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Online Etymology Dictionary.” etymonline.com. Douglas Harper, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Olver, Lynne, ed. “Food Timeline FAQs: Candy.” The Food Timeline. Lynne Olver, 8 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Oulton, Randal. “Butter Brickle.” CooksInfo.com. CooksInfo.com, 2 Dec. 2007. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
-- “Toffee.” CooksInfo.com. CooksInfo.com, 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Pecan Pralines Recipes.” Southern Living. Time Inc., n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
Polaski, Helen. “The History of Peanut Brittle Candy.” Life123. Life123, Inc., an IAC Company, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Praline.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 27 May 2013. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Ratafia.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Ratafia.” The Free Dictionary. Farlex, Inc., n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Ratafia.” US Restaurant Alliance. The U.S. Restaurant Alliance®, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Toffee.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“Toffee hammer used by militant suffragettes: c.1911.” Museum of London Online Store. Museum of London, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
“What is English Toffee?” wiseGEEK. Conjecture Corporation, n.d. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
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