FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
CANDY PRICES
To avoid downgrading to a lower quality chocolate to keep prices firm, we have switched all our layered
Belgian chocolates to using couverture-grade chocolate (which due
to its luxury-market pricing point has risen at a slower rate than
other grades of chocolate). As such, the chocolate we are using in
our layered chocolate creations will now be couverture-grade. SHOULD the global cocoa bean market recover in the 2025-2026 season it may bring prices back down in the coming 2-3 years, at which time we will happily offer a non-couverture Belgian chocolate again at the older pricing point.
IS THE BRITTLE REALLY SOFT?
Despite the name, we're often asked "is your brittle actually soft?". YES. It's light and flaky, and melts in your mouth. It is 100% guaranteed not to break your teeth!! And as you eat a bag of it, the crumbs will make the most amazing topping over ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, and more!
WHO INVENTED SOFT PEANUT BRITTLE?
We've noticed some confectioners make indirect claims to have been the ones to first make soft peanut brittle (or "soft peanut butter brittle"). Certainly, we're newer to the industry and we make no claim to coming up with it (even though we believe with our process that ours is superior in both taste and texture). We've had customers tell us stories about their "grandmother in Thailand" making soft peanut brittle, and several people have told us about their grandparents in South Carolina, southern Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle making soft peanut brittle. So the answer is that no one really knows where it originated. We just believe ours is the best. And we think you'll agree!
But
to the question of who invented chocolate hazelnut soft brittle, bacon
peanut soft brittle, all our liqueur-based English Toffee creations, and
the recipes for our specialty chocolates? WE DID.
Many long hours and painstaking trial-and-error with ingredients and
cooking chemical reactions and processes...but these fantastic
delicacies are OUR original recipes!
ALCOHOL CONTENT IN TOFFEES
Everything we produce is in a facility that makes peanut candy. However, we are fastidious about cleaning utensils and surfaces, and nothing else is produced on peanut brittle cooking days. We also have staff with life-threatening tree nut allergies, so we are also very careful about walnuts, hazelnut oil, and other allergens.
Here's a list of our candy and potential "major" allergens:
Soft Peanut Brittle: Peanuts
Chocolate Hazelnut Soft Brittle: Dairy, hazelnut oil, soy (soy lecithin and Hazelnuts in the Nutella®)
Bacon Peanut Soft Brittle: Peanuts
Chocolate Hazelnut Soft Brittle: Dairy, hazelnut oil, soy (soy lecithin and Hazelnuts in the Nutella®)
Bacon Peanut Soft Brittle: Peanuts
Apple Brandy Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin, tree nuts
Cinnamon Whisky Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin
Nutty Irishman Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin, tree nuts
White Russian Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin
Pumpkin Spice Martini Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin
Tennessee Whiskey Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin
Lime Fresco Margarita Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin
Lime Fresco Margarita Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin
Spiked Peanut Butter Cup Toffee: Dairy, soy lecithin, peanuts
S'Mores Bark: Gluten, dairy, soy lecithin
Salted Caramel Bark: Dairy & soy lecithin
Peppermint Bark: Dairy & soy lecithin
Hazelnut Espresso Bark: Dairy, hazelnut oil, soy lecithin
Caramel Macchiato Bark: Dairy & soy lecithin
Mexican Hot Chocolate Bark: Dairy & soy lecithin
Mexican Hot Chocolate Bark: Dairy & soy lecithin
Rasberry Almondine: Dairy, tree nuts, soy lecithin.
Java 72 Dark: Coconut sugar
Sea Salt Almond 72 Dark: Almonds, coconut sugar
Cherry Noir 72: coconut sugar, sunflower oil
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
I HAVE SEEN YOUR SOFT PEANUT BRITTLE ADVERTISED AS HAVING NO WHEAT OR DAIRY. ARE YOU A CERTIFIED GLUTEN-FREE FACILITY?Due
to the nature of ingredients, our soft peanut brittle does not contain wheat, dairy, egg, tree nuts, caffeine, high-fructose corn syrup, or
soy protein. It is not organic or non-gmo, as making it that way would be
prohibitively expense. Because we put graham crackers in our Triple
Chocolate S'Mores bark, we are also not a gluten-free facility although
we are fastidious about clean surfaces, etc. We want to be 100% up front
that we make no "healthy" claims about it...we're still making candy
with refined sugar, LIGHT corn syrup (NOT high-fructose), peanuts, and peanut butter (we use a peanut butter made with fully hydrogenated
vegetable oil versus the more harmful partially-hydrogenated oil).
HOW DO I STORE SOFT PEANUT BRITTLE, CHOCOLATE, OR TOFFEE?
It is
also heat-stable (a bag of it sitting in our black SUV during a 95
degree summer day didn't melt...but it DID make our car smell absolutely
delicious!). In all seriousness...sitting in a hot car WILL make it
get a bit softer, and as it gets softer it will become more "candy bar"
chewy than "light and flaky"...but the taste quality will not change one
bit.
In
fact, soft peanut soft brittle is considered non-perishable and can be
shipped internationally (we provide an affidavit to this effect for
customs on international shipments). We have shipped so far to Canada
and many European countries, and with the customs declaration we provide it just sails
through customs without delay!
Store
our soft brittle or bacon peanut soft brittle in a closed bag (sealed
as tightly as possible) in a dry place. For extended storage use a
sealed/zip-loc bag for best freshness. Avoid high-humidity storage
conditions (no refrigeration or sitting out in front of a room AC) as
flaky sugar candy will become more dense (and becomes chewy) as it
absorbs moisture from the air.
Chocolate-Hazelnut
soft brittle, because it has chocolate and dairy, should be stored in
airtight container in cool, dry place. Again, avoid humidity.
Keep
all chocolates in a cool, dry place at under 70 degrees if possible (optimal is 60-65 degrees). You
can refrigerate, but it's important to be extra certain it's tightly
wrapped in an air-tight container as chocolate absorbs odor and moisture
from the air. We'd recommend covering in cling-wrap and then inside a
HIGH QUALITY zip-lock type bag, pushing as much air out of the bag as
possible.
Not following these storage conditions can cause chocolate to "bloom," (develop a light-colored powdery surface on the chocolate), caused by "beta crystals " in the cocoa butter rising to the surface. When this happens, the chocolate is still safe to eat, but the texture may suffer. To prevent bloom, make sure the chocolate doesn't get too warm or experience extreme fluctuations in temperature or humidity.
Not following these storage conditions can cause chocolate to "bloom," (develop a light-colored powdery surface on the chocolate), caused by "beta crystals " in the cocoa butter rising to the surface. When this happens, the chocolate is still safe to eat, but the texture may suffer. To prevent bloom, make sure the chocolate doesn't get too warm or experience extreme fluctuations in temperature or humidity.
SHELF LIFE
Soft Peanut Brittle: If stored as advised above, 6-8 months
Chocolate Hazelnut Soft Brittle: As above, 5 months
Bacon Peanut Soft Brittle: Around 2 months
Chocolate: As explained above, up to a year.
Toffee: As above, around 5 months
Chocolate Hazelnut Soft Brittle: As above, 5 months
Bacon Peanut Soft Brittle: Around 2 months
Chocolate: As explained above, up to a year.
Toffee: As above, around 5 months
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ENGLISH TOFFEE vs. AMERICAN TOFFEE (aka "buttercrunch")
English Toffee dates back to the early 1800's. It consists of brown
sugar and butter (occasionally with added rum) in a caramelized form.
"American
Toffee" is made with granulated white sugar (i.e. Almond Roca, Heath Candy
Bar, and the majority of toffee you will find in the USA). This toffee,
rolled in chocolate and nuts is actually called "butter crunch"...an
American invention of English immigrant William Loft in New York
City in 1860. In fact, if you look at Almond Roca's packaging, they even
refer to their candy as "The original buttercrunch toffee", not
"English Toffee.
Interesting tidbit: Loft's company became the world's
largest maker and seller of candy by the 1920's, even owning the
Pepsi-Cola Corporation at one point before several decades of decline
resulted in their final demise in the 1990's. But this created the long-standing misunderstanding of "English Toffee" in the United States.
Traditional English Toffee (as
we use in the base layer of our toffee creations) does not usually have
nuts mixed in, as part of the delight of a true brown sugar and butter toffee
is the smoothness of the texture. It should neither be hard to bite
into, nor should it ever be grainy. It may be softer and chewier (as
you'll find with several fine British imported brands) or be hard and sold with a tiny hammer to break the pieces. It may also be
topped with chocolate or nuts.
We are one of the FEW confectioneries in North America producing our English Toffee in the traditional style...with brown sugar and layers.
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The importance of honoring tradition
Our family lineage dates back to John Robinson, the
Cambridge-educated pastor of a country church in Scrooby, England (held
in Scrooby Manor, the home of William Brewster). Robinson and Brewster
led the pilgrims out of England in 1608 to Leiden, Holland, and in 1620
put 35 members of their congregation on the Mayflower to sail to
America. The Robinson-Scrooby Compact of 1606 was the model for
the Mayflower Compact of 1620, which became the foundation for democratic principles in the United States. You'll find these same principles reflected in the Declaration of
Independence and the United States Constitution, alongside the philosophy of John Locke ("Two Treatises of Government" published in 1690) and other great theorists of that time.
Going
back even further, our lineage includes a knight who
rode in battle with William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, which established the England we generally know today. The crest and coat-of-arms
used in our logo is from 18 generations of our family's history.
With
a nod to our heritage, we wanted to remain
true to the traditional form of this delightful delicacy. We believe
you'll agree that our English Toffee is simply amazing...like nothing
you've ever had before.