Artisanal gourmet toffee, produced in small batches in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, delivers sublime flavor and gives your teeth a break.
I wish I could say it was love at first bite with toffee and me. It wasn’t. When I was nine or so, a neighbor girl’s mom took her and me to a movie and snuck in candy bars to avoid movie theater prices. At the time, Hershey’s milk chocolate was my speed. Maybe with almonds, if I was being really adventurous. What I was handed after the lights dimmed was a Heath Bar. In the darkened theater, I thought it said Health Bar, not a promising start. And it was little. Still, chocolate was involved, so I soldiered on, even though I was less than impressed.
But when I later fell for toffee, I fell hard. Even though it threatened to break my teeth with every bite. Even though, failing that, it stuck to my teeth like crazy. There was just something so buttery good and, well, grown up about toffee that I put up with its cruel dental ways.
So imagine my delight when we recently discovered Sweet Margy Gourmet English Toffee. This is toffee at a whole different level. By producing it in small batches, using single origin premium milk and dark chocolate from Guittard and European-style unsalted butter, with no preservatives and no added flavors, Margy Kaye creates artisanal toffee with rich flavor and a light, consistent texture. And by light consistent texture, we mean it doesn’t stick to your teeth or try to break them. Dark chocolate snobs that we are, we were completely taken with Margy’s milk chocolate toffee.
What began as “therapy for a mom raising three kids” has blossomed into a company, Confection Diva. You’ll find her confections at a number of Chicago locations, including Binny’s Marcey Street, Artisan Cellar in the Merchandise Mart, Pastoral, Goddess & Grocer, Foodlife Market in Water Tower Place, Provenance and Trotter’s To Go. You’ll also find them in San Francisco, Madison, Wisconsin, and at Lincoln Center in New York, to name a few more locations. If none of these spots is convenient, you can also order them on the Confection Diva website.
My father used to love putting Skor or Heath (I also thought it was “Health”) bars in the fridge until they got so hard & brittle you’d think you’d break a cap on them. But so delicious.
This post makes me both feel nostalgic and want to settle in with a handful of these and some fresh-brewed coffee.
I LOVE making toffee. I do it on my study breaks…having to concentrate on not burning it surprisingly relaxing. I have found, though, that adding a bit of heavy whipping cream makes the texture a bit more manageable.
Meister—I don’t drink coffee [and I consider that fact a social flaw on my part], but that sounds perfect!
Cyndey—I totally understand. Throwing yourself into a project that requires your complete concentration for a brief time can take you away from everyday pressures and stress.
It’s an amazing product! You can also buy these products at all the Sunset Foods in the northern suburbs of Chicago and Casey’s in Naperville.
Thanks for the tip, Greg!
I first tasted Sweet Margy’s at a Sunset Foods tasting a few years ago and I haven’t looked back. These delectable treats are a favorite of mine and my family’s, so much so I have to hide it when I bring home a bag or two. They are not only a delicious treat for me, but I have started the share the wealth, and almost all gifts that I send include a bag of this amazing toffee.
Sweet Margy’s is truly orgasmic! She has other products too–all fantastic.
It is about time she gets some traction in Chicago. Enough with that garbage Terry’s Toffee (that stuff is inedible compared to this).
Sweet Margy’s toffee is my companies go to corporate gift. It is a worthwhile high end product that always pleases our high end clientele. Besides, it is so unbelievably delicious.
I keep it on hand in my office and car so that I never have to share it with my family who devours every bag.
Once my good friend and roommate Ari gave me a piece of this stuff. Later that night I stole more pieces and I never regretted it. The moral of the story: this stuff is worth stealing from good friends.
I agree with Solly Davis above–I too consider Ari to be a good friend, a roommate, and when he loans me his car, I always thank him by stealing a few pieces of his Sweet Margy toffee from the trunk.
The Moral: buy this and don’t tell people where you keep it.
The Question: Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
I’ve known about this candy for a long time. It is my go to gift for any and all occasions. Year after year people look forward to my gift because like me, no one else can get enough; I swear, this candy is the only reason I have friendships.
Sweet Margy herself is just about as sweet as her candy. She is great to her customers and really time and again delivers an outstanding product. If anything goes wrong, BOOM, Sweet Margy jumps into action.
To the previous post: Dark Chocolate.
To say I have a sweet tooth and a love for toffee would be an understatement. Over a cup of coffee, my friend introduced me to Sweet Margy’s Gourmet English Toffee a year ago. It was love immediately, as I could not get enough. The experience was nothing I had ever tasted before, pure heaven.
I brought a large serving of both dark and milk chocolate as a gift for a family dinner. There was enough toffee to serve at least 25 people, and after only an hour, five of us had polished off the batch. It’s the perfect gift, morning or daytime treat, and delicate desert.