Editing Butterscotch

{{short description|Type of confectionery}}
{{for-multi|the singer/beatboxer who appeared on America's Got Talent|Butterscotch (performer)|the band|Butterscotch (band)|the similarly named South Park character|Butters Stotch}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox food
| name             = Butterscotch
| image            = Butterscotch-Candies.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = Butterscotch sweets
| alternate_name   = 
| country          = England
| region           = [[Doncaster]], [[Yorkshire]]
| creator          = 
| course           = 
| type             = [[Confectionery]]
| served           = 
| main_ingredient  = [[Brown sugar]], butter
| variations       = 
| calories         = 
| other            = 
}}

'''Butterscotch''' is a type of [[confectionery|confection]] whose primary ingredients are [[brown sugar]] and [[butter]]. Some recipes include [[corn syrup]], cream, [[vanilla]], and salt. The earliest known recipes, in mid-19th century [[Yorkshire]], used [[treacle]] (molasses) in place of, or in addition to, sugar.

Butterscotch is similar to [[toffee]], but the sugar is boiled to the [[soft crack]] stage, not [[hard crack]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Cold Water Candy Test|url=http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html|work=Exploratorium|access-date=12 January 2014}}</ref> Often credited with their invention, [[Elizabeth Shaw (confectionery company)#History of S. Parkinson & Sons|S. Parkinson & Sons]] of [[Doncaster]] made butterscotch boiled sweets and sold them in tins, which became one of the town's best-known exports.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chrystal|first1=Paul|title=Confectionery in Yorkshire Through Time|date=2013|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited}}</ref> They became famous in 1851 after [[Queen Victoria]] was presented with a tin when she visited the town.<ref>{{cite news|title=Doncaster's Proud History|url=http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/video-doncaster-s-proud-history-1-3369399|work=Doncaster Free Press|date=7 October 2017|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008030759/http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/video-doncaster-s-proud-history-1-3369399|archive-date=8 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Butterscotch sauce, made of butterscotch and cream, is used as a topping for ice cream (particularly [[sundae]]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]] (a type of [[custard]]).

==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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baking911.com/candy/butterscotch.htm |title=Maple Sugar |publisher=baking911.com |access-date=5 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110095843/http://www.baking911.com/candy/butterscotch.htm |archive-date=10 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/007196how_to_make_butterscotch.php |title=Butterscotch Sauce Recipe, How to Make Butterscotch &#124; Simply Recipes |publisher=Elise.com |access-date=5 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518185625/http://elise.com/recipes/archives/007196how_to_make_butterscotch.php |archive-date=18 May 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Alternatively, the "scotch" may derive from the word "[[wikt:scorch|scorch]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030600264.html|title=Sticking With Butterscotch |newspaper=Washington Post |date=7 March 2007 |access-date=10 July 2014}}</ref> In 1855, F. K. Robinson's ''Glossary of Yorkshire Words'' explained Butterscotch as "a [[treacle]] ball with an amalgamation of butter in it".<ref>"Butterscotch". ''Oxford English Dictionary''.</ref>

==History==
[[File:Rye (15045370394).jpg|thumb|right|Butterscotch sweets (top row second from left) sold in a shop in [[Rye, East Sussex]], England]]
Early mentions of butterscotch associate the confection with [[Doncaster]] in Yorkshire. An 1848 issue of the ''[[Liverpool Mercury]]'' 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" ({{convert|1|lb|g|disp=output only|sigfig=1}} each of butter and sugar and {{convert|0.25|lb|g|disp=output only|round=25}} treacle).<ref name=LiverpoolMercury>{{cite news |title=Housewife's Corner |newspaper=Liverpool Mercury |date=1 February 1848 |page=4 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000081/18480201/060/0004 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

By 1851, Doncaster butterscotch was sold commercially by rival confectioners [[Elizabeth Shaw (confectionery company)#History of S. Parkinson & Sons|S. Parkinson & Sons]] (the original Parkinson recipe is still made today{{disputed inline|Still made by Parkinsons "today"|date=December 2023}}<ref name="doncaster">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071213165122/http://www.doncasterbutterscotch.com/ "Parkinson's Doncaster Butterscotch"]}}. Doncaster Butterscotch.com.</ref>), Henry Hall, and Booth's via agents elsewhere in Yorkshire.<ref name=Sheffield1851a>''Sheffield & Rotherham Independent''. 20 December 1851.</ref><ref name=Sheffield1851b>''Sheffield & Rotherham Independent''. 27 December 1851.</ref><ref name=Bradford1856>''Bradford Observer''. 21, 1856</ref> Parkinson's started to use and advertise the Doncaster Church as their trademark.<ref name=NZObserver>[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TO18891130.2.6&srpos=4&e=-------10--1----0doncaster+butterscotch Observer (New Zealand), Volume IX, Issue 570, 30 November 1889, Page 3].</ref> 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".<ref name=Leeds1853>''Leeds Mercury''. 29 January 1853.</ref> Parkinson's Butterscotch was by appointment to the royal household and was presented to the [[Elizabeth II|Princess Elizabeth]], then the Duchess of Edinburgh, in 1948<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/features/royals_visit_1948_st_leger_1_253568 |title=Royals visit 1948 St Leger – Features |work=The Star |date=29 August 2008 |access-date=5 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007220922/http://www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/features/royals_visit_1948_st_leger_1_253568 |archive-date=7 October 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and to [[Anne, Princess Royal]] in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bestdoncasterairporthotels.co.uk/category/travel |title=travel |publisher=Best Doncaster Airport Hotels |date=5 March 2004 |access-date=5 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110411114714/http://bestdoncasterairporthotels.co.uk/category/travel |archive-date=11 April 2011 }}</ref> In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the British sweet became popular in the U.S.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hopkins |first1=Kate| title=Sweet Tooth: The Bittersweet History of Candy |url=https://archive.org/details/sweettoothbitter0000hopk |url-access=registration |date=2012 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/sweettoothbitter0000hopk/page/170 170]}}</ref>

==Packaging and products==
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2024}}
[[File:Butterscotchsundae.jpg|thumb|right|A butterscotch [[sundae]]]]
Butterscotch is often used as a flavour for items such as [[dessert sauce]], pudding, and [[biscuits]] ([[cookies]]). To that end, it can be bought in "butterscotch chips" made with hydrogenated (solid) fats to be similar for baking use to [[chocolate chip]]s.

Also, individually wrapped, translucent yellow hard candies (butterscotch disks) are made with an artificial butterscotch flavour. In addition, butterscotch-flavoured [[liqueur]] is in production.

==Sauce==
Butterscotch sauce is made of brown sugar cooked to {{convert|240|F}} mixed with butter and cream.<ref>Wayne Gisslen, ''Professional Baking'', {{ISBN|1118254368}}, p. 227.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Blondie (confection)]]
*[[Caramel]]
*[[Werther's Original]]

==References==
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{{Foods featuring butter}}
{{Traditional British sweets}}
{{Sugar}}

{{portal bar|Food}}

[[Category:British confectionery]]
[[Category:Foods featuring butter]]
[[Category:Yorkshire cuisine]]
[[Category:Toppings]]
[[Category:Candy]]