Sponge toffee

Sponge toffee is a sugary confection with a light, rigid, sponge-like texture.

The main ingredients are typically brown sugar, corn syrup (or molasses or golden syrup in the Commonwealth) and baking soda, sometimes with an acid such as vinegar. The baking soda and acid react to form carbon dioxide which is trapped in the highly viscous mixture. When acid is not used, thermal decomposition of the baking soda releases carbon dioxide. The lattice structure is formed while the sugar is liquid, then the toffee sets hard.

It is generally home-made, and a popular recipe for children, but is also made commercially and sold in small blocks, or covered in chocolate (popular examples being the Crunchie or Violet Crumble bar).

Regional names

It is known by a wide variety of names including:

• honeycomb toffee in Britain^[1]
• honeycomb in South Africa, Australia and Britain^[2]
• yellow man in Northern Ireland
• puff candy in Scotland^[3]
• golden crunchers
• hokey pokey in New Zealand^[4][5][6][7] (especially in the Kiwi classic Hokey Pokey ice cream).
• sponge candy (tire éponge) in Quebec, Canada, Western New York, and Northwest Pennsylvania, USA^[8]
• sea foam in Maine, Washington, Oregon, Utah, California and Michigan, USA
• fairy food candy or angel food candy in Wisconsin, USA
• cinder toffee in Britain^[1]
• Turkish honey (Törökméz) in Hungary

Cinder toffee and bonfire toffee are also used to refer to brittle treacle toffee^[9][10]

References