Butterscotch is a type of

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

whose primary ingredients are

brown sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

and

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

. Some recipes include

corn syrup Corn syrup is a food syrup which is made from the starch of corn (called maize in many countries) and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to softe ...

, cream,

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

, and salt. The earliest known recipes, in mid-19th century

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, used

treacle Treacle () is any uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar.Oxford Dictionary The most common forms of treacle are golden syrup, a pale variety, and a darker variety known as black treacle, similar to molasses. Black treacle has a ...

(molasses) in place of, or in addition to, sugar. Butterscotch is similar to

toffee Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepared, toffee is ...

, but the sugar is boiled to the

soft crack Candy making or candymaking is the preparation and cookery of candies and sugar confections. Candy making includes the preparation of many various candies, such as hard candies, jelly beans, gumdrops, taffy, liquorice, cotton candy, chocolat ...

stage, not

hard crack Candy making or candymaking is the preparation and cookery of candies and sugar confections. Candy making includes the preparation of many various candies, such as hard candies, jelly beans, gumdrops, taffy, liquorice, cotton candy, chocolat ...

. Often credited with their invention, S. Parkinson & Sons of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

made butterscotch boiled sweets and sold them in tins, which became one of the town's best-known exports. They became famous in 1851 after

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

was presented with a tin when she visited the town. Butterscotch sauce, made of butterscotch and cream, is used as a topping for ice cream (particularly

sundae A sundae () is an ice cream dessert of American origin that typically consists of one or more scoops of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup and in some cases other toppings such as: sprinkles, whipped cream, marshmallows, peanuts, maraschino ...

s). The term "butterscotch" is also often used more specifically for the flavour of brown sugar and butter together, even if the actual confection butterscotch is not involved, such as in butterscotch

pudding Pudding is a type of food. It can be either a dessert or a savoury (salty or spicy) dish served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, ins ...

(a type of

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

Etymology

Food historians have several theories regarding the name and origin of this confectionery, but none is conclusive. One explanation is the meaning "to cut or score" for the word "scotch", as the confection must be cut into pieces, or "scotched", before hardening. The "scotch" part of its name possibly was derived from the word "

scorch Scorch may refer to: Entertainment * Scorch, a dragon puppet character created by Ronn Lucas ** ''Scorch'' (TV series), a 1992 CBS sitcom starring the Ronn Lucas character * Scorch (comics), a.k.a. Aubrey Sparks, an antagonist of Superman * Sco ...

". In 1855, F. K. Robinson's ''Glossary of Yorkshire Words'' explained Butterscotch as "a

ball with an amalgamation of butter in it".

History

Early mentions of butterscotch associate the confection with

in Yorkshire. An 1848 issue of the ''

Liverpool Mercury The ''Liverpool Mercury'' was an English newspaper that originated in Liverpool, England. As well as focusing on local news, the paper also reported on both national and international news allowing it to circulate in Lancashire, Wales, Isle of Man ...

'' gave a recipe for "Doncaster butterscotch" as "one pound of butter, one pound of sugar and a quarter of a pound of treacle, boiled together" ( each of butter and sugar and treacle). By 1851, Doncaster butterscotch was sold commercially by rival confectioners S. Parkinson & Sons (the original Parkinson recipe is still made today"Parkinson's Doncaster Butterscotch"
. Doncaster Butterscotch.com.), Henry Hall, and Booth's via agents elsewhere in Yorkshire.''Sheffield & Rotherham Independent''. 20 December 1851.''Sheffield & Rotherham Independent''. 27 December 1851.''Bradford Observer''. 21, 1856 Parkinson's started to use and advertise the Doncaster Church as their trademark.Observer (New Zealand), Volume IX, Issue 570, 30 November 1889, Page 3
It was advertised as "Royal Doncaster Butterscotch", or "The Queen's Sweetmeat", and said to be "the best emollient for the chest in the winter season".''Leeds Mercury''. 29 January 1853. Parkinson's Butterscotch was by appointment to the royal household and was presented to the Princess Elizabeth, then the Duchess of Edinburgh, in 1948 and to

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

in 2007. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the British sweet became popular in the U.S.

Packaging and products

Butterscotch is often used as a flavour for items such as

dessert sauce A dessert sauce is a sauce used for desserts. It is drizzled or poured atop various desserts, and is also used for plate decoration. Dessert sauce adds flavor, moisture, texture and color to desserts, may be cooked or uncooked, and is sometimes p ...

, pudding, and

biscuits A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also b ...

(

cookies A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts ...

). To that end, it can be bought in "butterscotch chips" made with hydrogenated (solid) fats to be similar for baking use to

chocolate chip Chocolate chips or chocolate morsels are small chunks of sweetened chocolate, used as an ingredient in a number of desserts (notably chocolate chip cookies and muffins), in trail mix and less commonly in some breakfast foods such as pancakes. ...

s. Also, individually wrapped, translucent yellow hard candies (butterscotch disks) are made with an artificial butterscotch flavour. In addition, butterscotch-flavoured

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond ...

is in production. Champion and Reeves make luxury traditional butterscotch in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, with British butter and British double cream, wrapped in individual foil wrappers.

Tastykake Tastykake is a line of snack foods manufactured by the Tasty Baking Company, headquartered at the Philadelphia Navy Yard (formerly the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in 1914 by Philip J. Baur and Herbert T ...

makes a cake known as a Krimpet. Butterscotch is a popular flavour that is offered.

Sauce

Butterscotch sauce is made of brown sugar cooked to mixed with butter and cream.Wayne Gisslen, ''Professional Baking'', , p. 227.

References

{{portal bar, Food British confectionery Foods featuring butter Yorkshire cuisine Candy

Etymology

History

Packaging and products

Sauce

See also

References