Toffee in the Pages
Toffee mentioned in famous books through the ages
Vern's Toffee has been making toffee since in Fort Collins, CO since 1976. But candy historians believe people of all ages have been enjoying the sweet delicacy since the early 19th century with English confectioners being the first to come up with the tasty candy. And indeed, the word toffee made its first appearance in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1825.
As soon as other countries had the their first bite of English Toffee, they sought to come up with their own versions, and thanks to an abundance of butter at the time, toffee soon became a treat all over Europe. And of course, it crossed the ocean to American shores. Each country tweaked the recipe a bit and before long, toffee lovers entering candy stores had their choice of varieties such as almond toffee, chocolate toffee, and butter almond toffee.
Toffee found fans among children as well as adults and sometimes they were delighted to discover toffee playing a role in a book they were reading, sometimes blockbuster books. Come along for a literary treat.
Harry Potter, along with his sidekicks, Ron, Percy, and Hermione Weasley enjoyed it, thanks to care packages sent by Mrs, Weasley. But do you think Mrs Weasley showed favoritism to the boys?
"Percy's letters was enclosed in a package of Easter eggs that Mrs Weasley had sent. Both Harry and Ron's were the size of dragon eggs and contained homemade toffee. Hermione's, however, was smaller than a chicken egg."
As might be expected, Willy Wonka's idea of toffee wasn't a conventional one as Charlie, Veruca, and Violet found out when the candy maker takes them on a tour of the inventing room of his fantastical chocolate factory. Not only that, but his hair toffee recipe is need of a slight tweaking as Oompa Loompa found out.
"Then Mr Wonka bounds over to another pan where he is cooking hair toffee, which he explains will grow hair on your head, including a beard and mustache. Veruca wonders who would want a beard and mustache, and Mr. Wonka counters that a beard would be fitting for Veruca. He also explains that the mixture is not quite right. It grows too much hair as evidenced by Oompa Loompa who now needs a lawnmower to cut his beard."
In this time-traipsing fantasy written by author, Susan Gates for 8 - 11 years olds, travels back and forth between present day and Victorian times, where present day Lennie comes upon old Mrs Butterworth in a rundown toffee factory who tells him the sad tale of Clum, a toffee monster created over a hundred years ago only to be imprisoned. What she doesn't tell him, and leaves him to find out the hard way, is that the seven-foot toffee fiend is still alive.....in the freezer!
If you visit Vern's Toffee, we can't promise you toffee that can grow hair, nor toffee made by Mrs Weasley. but you just might find a free sample of our delicious butter almond toffee waiting for you instead of a frozen toffee monster.
