Backyard

I had to rush to find today's blip, and with the weather coming in, the best I could do was my backyard.

Today is National Butterscotch Day! How butterscotch got, its name is yet unknown. There are different theories, but none have been conclusive. One theory says the butterscotch is associated with Scotland, hence the word ‘scotch.’ Another explanation is that the ‘scotch’ means “to cut or score,” as butterscotch needs to be cut into pieces, or ‘scotched, ‘ before hardening.

The first mentions of butterscotch were in the town of Doncaster in Yorkshire, England. It appeared in an 1848 issue of the “Liverpool Mercury,” which listed its recipe as “one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, and a quarter of a pound of treacle, boiled together.” Some food historians credit Samuel Parkinson, who began making butterscotch candy in 1817, as its inventor.

In 1851, many confectioners were already selling Doncaster butterscotch, including S. Parkinson & Sons, Henry Hall, and Booths. The confection was sold across Doncaster and other areas in Yorkshire through agents. But it was S. Parkinson & Sons that stood. Given the Royal Seal of Approval, S. Parkinson & Sons marketed its butterscotch brand as “Royal Doncaster Butterscotch” or “The Queen’s Sweetmeat.”