National English Toffee Day is a holiday observed on January 8th and celebrates a confection that has been enjoyed for generations. In the United States, English toffee is very different from American toffee.

American toffee is usually prepared with nuts and white sugar, while English toffee is typically made without nuts and with brown sugar. Of course, no one is going to watch over what type of toffee you enjoy on this day, so just select the one you like best.

The History of English Toffee

Since we’re unable to locate the creator of toffee or the history behind National English Toffee Day, we decided to concentrate our efforts on finding out the history of English toffee. Unfortunately, that too turned out to be quite difficult as most people don’t agree on where it was invented.

It is known that the word “toffee” made it into the Oxford English Dictionary in 1825, and in that dictionary, it’s identified as a form of taffy. Some people believe that the word comes from a West Indian rum known as “tafia.” This would make sense considering some candies during the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries were flavored with inexpensive rums.

Another theory is that toffee was invented by Creole people using a mixture of sugar and molasses. Under this theory, the candy was originally called “toughy,” a term used to describe how hard it was to chew. The word would then evolve to become “toffee”—probably due to the southern British dialect making the word “toughy” sound like “toffee.”

Regardless of who or why it was originally manufactured, it became a popular candy during the 19th century. This is because sugar became affordable to the general masses during this time, and as a result, more and more people began to make candy in their own kitchens. And since toffee is one of the easier candies to produce, people began making a lot of toffee.

Sweet Toffee Facts to Ponder

While everyone is enjoying National English Toffee Day, they might want to learn a little bit more about this sweet treat. We’ve already gone over the history of this candy, so we went ahead and dug up a few additional facts about toffee and listed them below.

• The largest piece of toffee weighs approximately 2,940 pounds. It was created in 2002.
• Early toffee recipes used rum. This gave them flavor and extended their shelf life.
• Buttercrunch is toffee that’s coated with chocolate and crushed almonds. It’s an American invention.
• National Almond Buttercrunch Day falls on June 29th.
• Caramel, toffee, and buttercrunch are similar candies but are different from one another.

Observing National English Toffee Day

People who are fans of English toffee, or just toffee in general, are probably going to want to celebrate this holiday. That can be done by going to your local store and buying your favorite type of toffee or by making your own at home. While you’re buying, making, and eating this toffee, make sure that you use the hashtag #NationalEnglishToffeeDay to spread the word about this holiday all over the internet.