Every 5th November, somewhere between the fireworks and the bonfire, out comes a tray of dark, glass-hard toffee that tastes almost entirely of molasses, a tradition that's been running in Britain for well over three hundred years.
A toffee tied to the Gunpowder Plot
Bonfire Night marks the failure of Guy Fawkes's 1605 attempt to blow up Parliament, and the bonfires lit that night ever since have carried a whole cluster of food traditions with them, parkin cake, baked potatoes, and treacle toffee among the most enduring. Treacle toffee itself is generally traced back to the late 17th century, and by the 19th and 20th centuries it was a genuinely widespread neighbourhood custom, with older residents in a street often taking it on themselves to make a batch and hand pieces out to children gathered round the fire.
What actually goes into it
The recipe is deliberately simple, which is part of why it survived as a home-made tradition for so long rather than becoming purely a shop-bought product:
- Sugar — the base of the toffee, providing the bulk of the structure
- Black treacle — unrefined molasses, responsible for the toffee's near-black colour and its strong, slightly bitter, unmistakably treacly flavour
- Butter — worked in for richness and to stop the finished toffee tasting purely of burnt sugar
The mixture is heated to hard crack stage, the same high sugar-syrup temperature used for classic boiled sweets, then poured out to set as a thin, dark sheet. Traditionally it was cracked into rough, jagged shards with a small hammer rather than cut into neat pieces, which is still how a lot of bonfire toffee is served today.
Different names, same toffee
The sweet goes by several regional names across Britain. In England it's most commonly bonfire toffee or Plot toffee, a direct reference to the Gunpowder Plot, and sometimes Tom Trot. In Scotland it's known as claggum or claggan, and in Wales as loshin du, where recipes sometimes bring in ginger or other spices alongside the treacle. Whatever it's called locally, the core recipe, and the tradition of sharing it out on the night itself, has stayed remarkably consistent for centuries.
Frequently asked questions
Why is treacle toffee eaten on Bonfire Night?
Treacle toffee, also called bonfire toffee, has been made and handed out around 5th November celebrations since at least the late 17th century, and became a firmly established part of Guy Fawkes Night traditions by the 19th and 20th centuries, when families and neighbours would make batches to give out to children gathered around the bonfire.
What is treacle toffee made from?
Treacle toffee is made from sugar, black treacle (molasses) and butter, heated together until the mixture reaches a hard crack stage, giving the toffee its dark colour, strong molasses flavour and characteristic hard, brittle snap.
Does treacle toffee have other names?
Yes. It's also known as bonfire toffee and Plot toffee in England, Tom Trot in some regions, claggum or claggan in Scotland, and loshin du in Wales, where regional recipes sometimes add ginger or other spices.