About Sponge Candy in general
If you have a question (or more) about Sponge Candy and it’s not covered here, please contact us. We’ll get back to you, pronto.
Common beginning questions about Sponge Candy
What is Sponge Candy?
Every once in a while a customer in our store will ask, “What is Sponge Candy?” Our immediate response is always the question, “Where are you from?” We know without doubt that this person isn’t a Buffalonian.
Sponge Candy is one of those things that’s really hard to describe without actually experiencing it. The Sponge Candy center is a simply flavored piece, caramelized sugar, almost molasses-like with a very unusual, crisp at first, then melt-away texture. We then load this center with as much milk chocolate as it will carry. When you bite into a piece of our Sponge Candy, you experience not only the chocolate’s opposing properties of solid firmness giving away to melty smoothness, but you get the center’s crispness immediately dissolving with a very complimentary mixing of chocolate and caramelized flavors. We’ve never read a description of Sponge Candy that’s come close to the experience of actually eating it and we’re sure this description is no better.
There are links just below that will pretty much fill you in on Sponge Candy, short of actually taking a bite. Doesn’t matter if you’re from Buffalo, or maybe an expatriate or just curious about regional foods, there’s no excuse now not to know what Sponge Candy is.
Brief notes of a Sponge Head
Buy Sponge Candy
…plus all the questions and answers in this FAQ.
Is Sponge Candy unique to Buffalo?
Sponge Candy is another one of those “Buffalo-centric” foods like chicken wings but without the international notoriety. We think of Sponge Candy like the inside information that comes from knowing Buffalo by actually living here as opposed to knowing Buffalo from a chicken wing and snow stereotype.
It’s true that Sponge Candy is found in places other than Buffalo. Locally, you’ll routinely find it everywhere (even in the supermarket bulk bins) out as far as Rochester or Erie, but it pretty much disappears beyond there. For example, Syracuse or Albany, not a clue. Pittsburgh or Cleveland also have no idea what Sponge Candy is. There are a few isolated places around the country that make it and you might see names like Sponge Taffy, Cinderblock, Sea Foam, Molasses Puffs, Honeycomb or Fairy Food. Descriptive names, to be sure, but often not quite the same style as Buffalo’s Sponge Candy.
(foot note) On August 25, 2006, a Google search on the terms sponge and candy listed the following retailers selling Sponge Candy in the first 100 hits: 2 Erie locations, 3 Rochester locations (including Batavia), 3 in the hinterlands (CA, IL, WI) and 11 in the Buffalo metro area.
How is Sponge Candy made?
I could go on for pages on this topic and eventually I will. So far I’ve got this to offer:
Is Sponge Candy known by any other names?
Judging by all the varied and different names, Sponge Candy has an identity crisis. Not so here in Buffalo where Sponge Candy is the common name in use. But you may know it by another name depending on where you’re from. Other names for Sponge Candy are:
- Sponge Toffee (Canada)
- Cinder Toffee (Great Brittan)
- Sea Foam (Oregon, California, Michigan)
- Honeycomb (Australia)
- Puff Candy (Scotland)
- Hokey Pokey (New Zealand)
- Fairy Food (Wisconsin, Chicago)
- Angel Food (Wisconsin)
- Cinder Block (???)
- Molasses Puffs (St. Louis)
- Gingerbread (New Hampshire)
There’s also the mass produced Violet Crumble Bar manufactured by Nestle and the Crumble Bar manufactured by Cadbury.
Keep in mind that styles and quality of Sponge Candy do differ greatly by geography so it is indeed right and proper that many of these candies should be named something other than Sponge Candy.
Let us know any names for Sponge Candy you’re familiar with and where that name is commonly used.
