Introduction to Nut Brittle
If you're a fan of nuts and candy, you'll probably love nut brittle. It's most commonly found as peanut brittle in the UK, and it's a confectionery that has been around since everyone remembers, often with recipes that have been handed down through the generations. Let's take a closer look.
The Origins of Peanut Brittle
Although nut brittle has been around for years, its origins are unclear but the most likely version seems to be that it originated from the American Deep South, when a woman was trying to prepare a batch of taffy. Taffy is a candy that is made by pulling or stretching a sticky mix of soft candy. This is made with butter, boiled sugar, cream of tartar, oil, flavourings and colours until tiny bubbles are produced and the candy is fluffy, light and chewy. However, when the cook went to grab cream of tartar to add to the taffy, she accidentally grabbed the baking soda. This means that, instead of creating soft and stretchy candy taffy, she ended up with a hard and crisp block of cooling brittle candy. Rather than wasting it, she added some peanuts and snapped the finished candy into pieces, creating the first-ever nut brittle. Although this origin story seems the most plausible, there are other legends that persist about how peanut brittle was first made. For example, some people believe it was created by another American folk hero called Tony Beaver, who was a lumberjack with a huge supply of massive peanuts. When a severe rainstorm hit, the local river banks threatened to break, and Tony acted by dumping his stash of peanuts and molasses into the river, creating an emergency dam. This saved the day but blocked the village's water supplies (no good deed goes unpunished!), and the villagers chipped away at the hard and crunchy mass... before deciding to taste it and realising they had a new candy on their hands - peanut brittle! Whatever you choose to believe about the beginnings of this delicious nutty sweet - and we can guarantee that someone's grandma will claim to have invented it here in the UK - it's a wonderful treat and quite unique in the world of sweets. It's also a perennial favourite at Berrymans, and our customers know that we make ours using traditional recipes and real ingredients for the finest flavour and finish.
The Different Versions of Nut Brittle
There are various kinds of nut brittle, but all are made with a candy base that resembles toffee. This cools to a crisp, snappy base that can be broken into brittle chunks - hence the name. Here in the UK, we tend to think of peanut brittle, but you can make or find various kinds of nut alternatives around the world, including almond brittle and mixed nut brittle. Basically, all kinds of nuts work amazingly well with toffee, so this is a no-fail taste combination!
Buy Delicious Peanut Brittle at Berrymans!
We sell delicious and flavoursome peanut brittle at Berrymans, packed with great flavour. We've experimented for years to get our signature recipe right, and it's not one to miss. You'll love the nutty crunch and the incredible sweetness, combined with the rich nuts. Peanut brittle was a favourite with soldiers in World War ll and we've used a long-established recipe to remake it in the most traditional way, using huge copper vats to mix up sugar, nuts, butter and other real ingredients for the finest results. Our peanut brittle is gluten-free, gelatine-free and also suitable for vegetarian diets. It's also presented in a large traditional-styled confectionery jar, so you can grab a handful whenever you wish. If you love nutty candies you might also want to check out our range of sugared almonds, chocolate peanuts and chocolate brazil nuts, too. Discover the Berrymans difference today and enjoy traditional, nostalgic sweets just as you used to! With free delivery on all orders, a huge range of traditional sweets just as you remember them from childhood and a customer rating of 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot, we're the ideal choice for your retro sweet fancies.