Sunday, June 29, 2014

Buttercrunch, Toffee, or Buttercrunch Toffee?

Do you know the difference between buttercrunch and toffee? What about buttercrunch toffee? Are they one and the same perhaps? Like most anything it is all a matter of perception or even the source with which you base your decision.

According to The Nibble (Magazine About Specialty Foods)...

English toffee is a plain candy made of sugar and butter, sometimes with added nuts. Buttercrunch is toffee that is coated with chocolate and crushed toasted almonds.

Buttercrunch, also called almond buttercrunch, is an American invention. One of the best-known products is Almond Roca, launched in 1923 by Brown & Haley of Tacoma, Washington. (Roca means “rock” in Spanish. In those days, most almonds came from Spain and the name suited the crunchy center.)

Anyway you look at it or what ever you choose to call it, it is delicious. For today, the focus is on the crunchy, buttery, caramelized candy since...

June 29 is...

Almond Buttercrunch Day

http://www.waysidecountrystore.com/cd/cscd06-29.htm

A bit of crunch history...

Almond buttercrunch was particularly popular back in the days of World War II. It's ease of shipment made it the perfect 'taste of home' to wrap up and send overseas in care packages. Brown & Haley started the tradition of wrapping the candy in their signature gold wrappers and storing them in tins to help keep them delicious and ready to consume on arrival.

Buy it or make it...

The best way to celebrate Almond Buttercrunch Day is to simply enjoy the wonderful taste of this delicious candy. It can be bought at your local candy or grocery store, maybe even pharmacy. Share some with family and friends and while you can't tour the old factory anymore, enjoy the video tour...

If you prefer to make your own instead of buying it, basic toffee is made by mixing together caramelized sugar and butter, then, boiling the mixture until it reaches the hard crack stage (roughly 149-154 Celsius, or 300 to 310 Fareneight). Just before it reaches this stage, adding the almonds makes the simple toffee crunch into Almond Buttercrunch! Like the Almond Roca brand? Let the simple toffee cool, dip in chocolate, then, roll in crumbled almonds to create a signature look and taste.

Recipe(s) of the Day...