English Toffee Day

8th January

Jump to:  Toffee Recipes

8th January is English Toffee Day.  Whilst no-one is sure when toffee was first made in England, it is thought to have become popular in the latter part of the 1800s.

This would make sense due to the fact that in England, sugar and treacle were expensive commodities until the late 1700's when slave labour in the colonies enabled plantation owners to harvest sugar cane and refine sugar cheaply.

Toffee is a confectionary or sweet, which is traditionally made by boiling sugar and/or treacle until the mixture thickens sufficiently to set.  There have been a variety of toffees made in England for centuries ranging from brittle to soft, light to dark, with nuts,  without nuts, with treacle, without treacle, with raisins, without raisins, pulled or poured.

However it's made, it has been a firm favourite of the nation but perhaps one of the most iconic versions is Everton Toffee, which is a brittle type named after a town in the North-west of England, near Liverpool, which has an interesting history.

In 1889 A Mrs Bushell owned  a toffee house called Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House which was located close to home ground of Everton Football Club.  Mrs Bushell used to sell vast quantities of her toffee to the football fans who came to watch Everton play in the new Football League at the Stanley Park ground.  She did a good trade. However in 1892 the Club moved to a new ground at Goodison Park  leaving Mrs Bushell and her toffee behind.

However, despite a rival toffee shop near to the new ground which was owned by a Mrs Noblett founder of the Everton Mint (sorry that's another story for another time), Mrs Bushell, determined not to lose business, got permission from the senior officials at Everton FC to distribute her "Everton Toffees" inside the ground before the matches  - a tradition which has lasted through the years.  Indeed, Everton football club's nickname is The Toffees.
 

Below are two recipes for English toffee for you to try. They make a nice home-made gift at Christmas......or any other time of the year.

Happy Cooking !

Everton Toffee    Veg  CD  Confectionery  English  30mins plus setting

Treacle Toffee   Veg CD Confectionery English 30mins plus setting