Old English Butterscotch Recipe 1934

Old English Butterscotch recipe - the best butterscotch I've ever tasted made from a recipe from 1934. Crush it onto the top of ice-cream for a special treat, dip it in chocolate or eat it as it is!

Print the recipe

Visit the Vintage Kitchen website for recipes, updates and behind the scenes accidents, er, I mean information

Music:
Song of Sixpence by 4 and 20 Blackbirds
Music kindly supplied by Mevio's Music Alley

[yulstube]

I love how you always make notes on how to replace most ingredientes/utensils. I follow a lot of cooking channels, and a lot of times I have a hard time looking for the replacements. Greetings from Argentina!

[Sarahsvintagekitchen]

You can make it without one. When you think it's ready, put a drop of it into ice water and if it goes hard then it's ready. If it's still at a chewy sort of consistency keep boiling for a bit longer.

[DavidRoot_Music]

FYI -- to people who are asking about "caramels" -- Caramel and Butterscotch are two different (although similar) flavours. And this is a different candy (boiled sweets, in British terms) than the soft, chewy (American) caramel.

[DeathMetalDerf]

The acid works because it stops the crystal lattice structure from forming, keeping the sucrose molecules from lining up right to make the tiny little grains of sugar. If you add a base to this mixture after it's had the acid added has dissolved into it and it's still hot, you'll get something we call brittle, which usually contains nuts in the US where I'm from. Oh yeah, no butter or cream in brittle either! I REALLY wanted to be a big, fat, jolly candy man when I was growing up but computers pays more. Thanks for sharing this with us. I enjoyed the video very much. Brought back some really fun memories!

[patrickpritchard]

I just made these and they came out terrifically. The taste and texture were exactly what I was hoping for. Super easy recipe with very few ingredients. I'm definitely going to keep this candy in mind for this year's Christmas holiday. Thanks. 😋

[superstarcurry]

OMG!! I am a butterscotch fan and this recipe is EPIC!!! Thank you so much! It was simple and scrumptious....good for making christmas treats

[peelmeone]

I fully respect and admire your inquisitiveness toward the genesis of a recipe. Food represents the culture and history of a people. If not for that history, why would those of us in 2103 appreciate a recipe from the early 20th century? Hardship causes creativity, which results in delicious and simple dishes we now take for granted. Knowing the story behind them is the "icing on the cake".

[Sarahsvintagekitchen]

That should work fine. I have some recipes that use lemon juice to stop the crystallisation.

[Sarahsvintagekitchen]

Thanks! I filmed 13 new videos last week. I'm going to start uploading again on Friday :)

[MrSoleyn]

that butter is soooo yellow. i love it

[umstetter]

Your thermometer may be off. Stick it in a pan of boiling water and see if it gets to 212F degrees (or 100C). If you're in a high altitude, check to see what temp water should boil at your altitude. If it's off, you'll need to either buy a new thermometer or add degrees to 212F/100C/your boiling point at high altitude. My water boils at 212F. If thermometer reads 200F in the boiling water, then I'd need to add 12 degrees when cooking with it.

[heelrunner]

That is so cool! I wanted to make this sort of creamy toffee for ages! I didn't know the cream of tartar technique so all of my previous candies became stiff, grainy and disgusting! Even with chocolate coating! :( Thanks for the vid! I love your channel!

[tpno]

Raw sugar is also known as turbinado sugar in the U.S. You can find it in most supermarkets if you look for "sugar in the raw" or "turbinado sugar".

[jonathann]

This looks really good. I'm a big fan of butterscotch. I'm going to try this real soon. Thanks for the video.

[Sarahsvintagekitchen]

It's also known as light brown sugar but not regular brown sugar. I've put a list of the other names that it has in the ingredients list in the video notes :)

[jimmorrison]

looks more like Scottish tablet than the butterscotch sweets we get in Scotland. The butterscotch sweets are more like rock hard, clear toffee. Just got the hang of making the tablet and looking for some other similar recipes. Looks good, what was the other names for the sugar ? Demerara sugar ?

[peelmeone]

Subbed! This old "foodie" loves your recipe contributions AND your voice and accent! Michael from Florida

[Sarahsvintagekitchen]

Oh no :( If it's chewy then it didn't get hot enough. If you think your temp reading might not be correct, then you can put a tiny bit of the mixture into ice water. If it goes hard you know it's hot enough. If it's still rubbery then it's not hot enough. But chewy butterscotch is still good! You can chop it up and put it in icecream :)

[Bonstergirl]

I don't use a candy thermometer ever. I go buy look and smell of it and it works every time.. Old school mate:P Nor do I have crystallization..once melted completely, leave it alone until its ready (dont leave it though) and it'll do just fine.

[msbcv]

I tried this recipe yesterday - it would not go to 300° F. After cooking 3 hours it was up to 250° and then the temperature went down to 240°. I kept at it for another hour but I knew it was a lost cause because it smelled burned and was a dark cocoa color. I followed the recipe except for having to stir it a few times to prevent boiling over. Now that I’ve seen the video I wonder if it burned because light brown sugar isn’t exactly like raw sugar. And the hours on the stove 😂 Yours looks really yummy. Sigh.