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Our Top Pick Of The Week is Holm Made Toffee, a 30-year-old family enterprise that began as many artisan food companies do: by making toffee gifts for friends and family.
As with most of these small businesses, the thundering enthusiasm from the recipients led them, ultimately, to a small commercial enterprise. As more people tasted Holm Made Toffee, demand grew and now, Randi Holm has created a family business positioned to be a legacy for her children and grandchildren.
Before proceeding with the much-deserved praise for Holm Made Toffee, we must disclose that we characterize their confections as buttercrunch, not toffee. You’ll discover why below. With all respect to Holm Made and many other American “toffee” producers, it’s perhaps the biggest food misnomer in the U.S. THE NIBBLE does its best not to perpetuate the inaccuracy.
DELICIOUS TOFFEE FLAVORS
The toffees focus on hazelnuts, a local crop in Oregon, where Holm is based. A whopping 99% of the U.S. hazelnut crop is produced in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. (There’s more about hazelnuts below.)
The delicious flavors include:
Birthday Cake Hazelnut Toffee
Cardamom & Vanilla Hazelnut Toffee
Cherry Cheesecake Hazelnut Toffee
Espresso Hazelnut Toffee
Himalayan Pink Salt Hazelnut Toffee
Lavender Hazelnut Toffee (a personal favorite—amazing lavender flavor!)
Original Hazelnut Toffee
Oregon Spirit Bourbon Hazelnut Toffee
Spicy Red Pepper Hazelnut Toffee
Strawberry Shortcake Hazelnut Toffee
White Chocolate Raspberry Hazelnut Toffee
Plus, there are seasonal flavors, and a dozen gift box assortments.
If this is too much choice for you, just order the six-pack of most popular flavors.
We tasted six different flavors, and have just this to say: Each flavor is so special, that we’d skip the Original in favor of tasting as many flavors as we can.
Cardamom? Espresso? Lavender? Spicy? Anything else? You can’t go wrong.
In addition to pieces of toffee and gift boxes of toffee, there are Toffee Bits: little pieces you can use to garnish ice cream; rim cocktails, coffee, hot chocolate, even milk; roll to coat ice cream sandwiches, and so much more.
GET YOUR HOLM MADE TOFFEE
For gifts, or to treat yourself, head to HolmMadeToffee.com.
Your taste buds will thank you.
> The year’s 60+ candy holidays.
> The year’s 69 chocolate holidays.
> The year’s 38 nut holidays.
> The history of candy.
> The history of chocolate.
Below:
> Hazelnuts or filberts, and their history.
> The history of toffee.
> The history of buttercrunch.
> The difference between toffee and buttercrunch.
> The differences between brittle, buttercrunch, caramel, and toffee.
THE HISTORY OF HAZELNUTS, A.K.A. FILBERTS
When we were growing up, nut assortments and chocolate-covered nuts were called filberts. Why?
It’s believed that the name was based in Catholicism. The feast day for France’s St. Philbert is August 20th, the same time that France’s hazelnut crop is ready to be harvested. Hence, a celebration of both.
On the other hand, some historians believe that “filbert” derives from the German vollbart which means “full beard.” The husked shell of the hazelnut resembles a beard.
Hazelnuts are also called cobnuts. Here’s more about it.
Americans’ greatest consumption of hazelnuts is probably in the chocolate hazelnut spread, Nutella, and its imitators.
HAZELNUT HISTORY
The hazelnut originated in Asia Minor (Anatolia), a peninsula that comprises the major part of modern Turkey.
Chinese manuscripts dating back 5,000 years discuss the nut. The Greeks and the Romans spread it all over Europe, where it has been grown from ancient times to the present. Many of today’s cultivated varieties were developed in the 19th century, following a great interest for hybrids [source].
Turkey remains the main producing country for hazelnuts worldwide, followed by Italy, Spain and the U.S.
More hazelnut trivia: Botanically, most nuts are the seeds of a fruit, while true nuts—such as chestnuts, acorns and hazelnuts——are fruits in and of themselves [source].
TOFFEE HISTORY
Most food historians believe that the toffee we know today, made with caramelized sugar and butter, emerged by the early 19th century.
It may have happened in England, one of the northern European dairying countries that plentiful supplies of butter.
The Oxford English Dictionary first mentions the word “toffee” in 1825; and historians note that words can be in use for decades before they became widespread enough to be included in a dictionary.
Since words were in use for some time before they were acknowledged in a dictionary, that’s what points to the early 1800s for the appearance of toffee.
The origin of the word toffee is not certain. Some believe it to be a form of the word “tafia,” a West Indies rum distilled from molasses.
Possibly, the toffee, which is still made with molasses by some producers in the England, could have been made from the molasses syrup skimmed off the liquor during distillation. (Modern toffee is made with caramelized sugar and butter.)
But follow the trail after that, and the descriptions get confusing, as you’ll see in the next section, “The Difference.”
These things everyone will agree upon:
Toffee is a hard, chewy candy made by combining some type of sugar (white, brown, molasses, treacle), plus butter.
American recipes for “English toffee” often add vanilla and/or other flavorings, and can also add milk or cream (which makes the toffee softer).
The ingredients** are boiled together at a high temperature, the “hard crack” stage on a candy thermometer (around 300°F/150°C) until the mixture is golden brown and stiff, and cools to a hard, brittle texture.
The toffee is then spread into a shallow pan or onto a surface to thicken and cool.
The slab is then broken into smaller, irregular pieces. Some toffees are poured into molds, typically to produce neat square shapes.
To get an idea of the consistency of toffee, think of the center of a Heath bar‡—which is actually American buttercrunch, a confection that adds nuts and chocolate to a center of toffee.
THE HISTORY OF BUTTERCRUNCH
Buttercrunch is distinctly American innovation built on English toffee traditions. As opposed to English toffee, buttercrunch as we know it was born way on the other side of the pond, in Tacoma, Washington.
In 1923 by Harry Brown and J.C. Haley of the Brown & Haley candy company were experimenting with candy recipes when they created their almond buttercrunch confection.
What made it innovative was the combination of:
A butter toffee base.
Finely chopped almonds mixed throughout the toffee as well as crushed nuts coating the outside.
A chocolate coating—dark, milk, or white.
The specific texture: hard and crunchy but still buttery.
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[1] A treat for friends and family. Quite frankly, we didn’t put our toffee in a bowl: We ate it straight from the box (all photos © Holm Made Toffee)!
[2] In addition to pieces of toffee, you can buy “toffee bits” for garnishing (photo #3).
[3] Toffee bits are available in four flavors.
[4] Sweet and salty combine in Himalayan Pink Salt Toffee.
[5] Make it a happy birthday with Birthday Cake Toffee.
[6] Classic toffee, originating in England, is often called English toffee in the U.S. It does not contain nuts or a chocolate coating (photo © Bakingdom).
[7] Classic buttercrunch (also called almond buttercrunch), invented in the U.S., contains both nuts and a chocolate cloak. Most American producers erroneously call it toffee. Even our favorite producer, Enstrom, calls it toffee (photo © Enstrom).
[8] While most buttercrunch uses almonds, Holm’s uses hazelnuts. You can use any nut you like (photo © Premium Growers).
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This was a departure from traditional, simpler English toffee recipe, which was essentially butter, sugar, and water* and didn’t include nuts or chocolate coating.
“Roca” is Spanish for rock. It was inspired by the candy’s crunchy texture and the fact that almonds were often imported from Spain at the time.
Almond Roca became widely popular, and buttercrunch became a popular homemade candy in American kitchens, especially during the holidays.
Almond Roca got an extra boost during World War II, when it was shipped to American soldiers overseas, due to its long shelf life and durable packaging in airtight tins. This earned it the nickname, “The Candy That Travels.”
As far as we’re concerned, it can travel every day from the tin to our lips.
Almond Roca is now sold in more than 50 countries, and the buttercrunch style it popularized has been widely imitated by other commercial enterprises, artisan chocolatiers, and home cooks alike.
The Origin Of The Name “Buttercrunch”
While Almond Roca was the major brand name, the generic “buttercrunch” emerged to emphasizes both the rich butter content and the distinctive crunchy texture. It became a way to distinguish this new American style from plain English toffee.
We don’t know who created the term buttercrunch, but it must have emerged either around the same time as a generic descriptor—possibly by competitors imitating the product, or even by Brown & Haley themselves in their marketing or product descriptions.
Regional variations emerged, but the basic formula—butter toffee, chopped almonds, and chocolate on top—remained consistent. Almond Roca remains the most famous commercial brand, while artisan chocolatiers make their own versions with different nuts and different types of chocolate coating.
And home bakers still make their own versions, creating new combinations that you can see in a Google search.
There are two National Buttercrunch Days: National Buttercrunch Day on January 20th and National Almond Buttercrunch Day on June 29th.
January 20th celebrates the diversity of buttercrunch recipes, including those with other nuts or no nuts at all. We’ve found recipes online that use most of the popular nuts, from pecans and pistachios to macadamias and walnuts. In fact, Brown & Haley, the company whose Almond Roca popularized almond buttercrunch, also sells Macadamia Roca.
June 29th focuses on the classic almond version, which is the most widely recognized.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOFFEE & BUTTERCRUNCH
We hate to be repetitive, but this is an important distinction. Most Americans erroneously refer to buttercrunch as toffee.
Buttercrunch is a specific type of toffee—toffee with nuts and chocolate. The innovation was to dress up English toffee with almonds and chocolate coating.
The generous amounts of chopped almonds (both mixed into the toffee and coating it) along with the chocolate cloak created something distinctively different from traditional British toffee.
We have seen most buttercrunch for sale in the U.S. called either toffee, English toffee, or buttercrunch toffee. These terms are incorrect.
If it has nuts and chocolate, it’s buttercrunch. As noted above, English toffee has neither.
And that’s why Holm Made Toffee, reviewed above, is actually buttercrunch.
And sometimes, as with Holm Made Toffee, the toffee is flavored with espresso, lavender, spices, etc. You won’t find that in the U.K.
So why do American producers name their buttercrunch products toffee?
We’re guessing ignorance. It’s hard to stop perpetuating an inaccuracy. One day we may write an article about our biggest “pet peeve” misnomers (sweet potatoes are not yams, bison is not buffalo, etc.).
Or perhaps because “toffee” and the association with Britain sounds more elegant.
Alas, there is no legal definition (here’s what exists from the USDA).
But now, you’re an educated consumer: You know the difference.
But does it really make a difference whether it’s mistakenly called toffee? Yes. Who wants to be mistaken?
Aren’t people entitled to call things what they want? No.
Thus, to be accurate:
Toffee or English toffee: Butter + sugar + water + sometimes other ingredients like treacle (photo #6).
Buttercrunch or almond buttercrunch: Butter + sugar + water + almonds + chocolate (photo #7).
“Buttercrunch toffee” is an inaccurate term: It’s either one or the other.
The term “English toffee” doesn’t exist in the U.K.: Toffee is de facto English. English toffee is made in a range of textures from chewy to hard, and variations like butter toffee and treacle toffee.
“English toffee” in the U.S. refers to the traditional British hard toffee style, which is the base for buttercrunch.
Butter toffee (England) is made primarily with butter, sugar, and water and has a rich, creamy, buttery flavor and a hard and brittle texture. It’s golden to medium brown in color and generally considered a more refined or premium style.
Treacle toffee (England) is made with black treacle (similar to blackstrap molasses), along with sugar and butter or margarine. The treacle gives it a distinctive, robust molasses flavor, a darker color (deep brown to nearly black) and a more intense, slightly bitter-sweet flavor. It’s often harder and more brittle than butter toffee.
Treacle toffee is also called “bonfire toffee” or “plot toffee” and is popular on Guy Fawkes Night, November 5th, which commemorates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, when Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators tried to blow up Parliament. The British celebrate with fireworks and bonfires, burning effigies of Guy Fawkes. Treacle toffee’s nearly black appearance may symbolically connect to the dark plot, gunpowder, and/or the charred remains of the bonfire.
We won’t even get much into caramel versus toffee. For example, there are numerous candies on the market called “toffee” that are actually caramels. More than a few caramel apples are called “toffee apples.”
Feel free to point out to the manufacturer that if, in fact, there were hard toffee on the apple, you wouldn’t be able to bite into it. It’s much harder than the hardened sugar syrup coating on candy apples.
As you’ll see below: If it’s soft, it’s caramel.
THE DIFFERENCE: BRITTLE, BUTTERSCOTCH, CARAMEL, AND TOFFEE
These candies are related, but differ in hardness and other features.
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.
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, 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).
Toffee is boiled to to a hard-crack (295°F to 310°F).
Toffee is made in a slab and broken up with a hammer. It can also be made in a mold, typically to produce square individual portions that are then enrobed in chocolate.
Brittle is a mixture of sugar and water, embedded with nuts. Like toffee, it is heated to the hard crack stage—the highest temperature at which candy is made candy (295°F to 310°F). The difference is that toffee includes butter.
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.
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*The first well-known brand was 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 (“rock-like”)center. The name may have been coined by William Loft, who began a confectionery in 1860 and sold almond-coated toffee (alas, the business closed in the 1990s).
†Some American producers may in fact make English-style toffee; but most of what we’ve seen called English toffee, isn’t.
‡The full name of this popular newsstand candy bar is Heath Milk Chocolate English Toffee Bar. It’s made of toffee, almonds and milk chocolate. It was first made by the Heath brothers in Robison, Illinois in 1928 (the brand is now owned by the Hershey Corporation).
**In addition to butter, sugar, and water, sometimes golden syrup or treacle us added to English toffee for flavor and texture. Occasionally some regional recipes add a small amount of flour.
English toffee and American buttercrunch can diverge with the type of sugar type. English toffee is made with brown or white sugar, or with molasses or treacle. Buttercrunch is made with white granulated sugar (table sugar). Brown sugar creates a deeper, more caramelized flavor and a slightly softer, chewier texture. Molasses and treacle add deeper flavor notes and a significantly deeper, darker color.
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