Sponge Candy
Crunchy, airy toffee with a honeycomb texture, dipped in chocolate. Local chocolatiers make it, and it's the classic Western New York souvenir.
🏆 Where to get the best sponge candy
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📜 A little history
Sponge candy is a crisp, airy toffee. Sugar and corn syrup are cooked and foamed up with baking soda, then cut into chunks and dipped in chocolate. Similar candies go by honeycomb, cinder toffee or fairy food elsewhere, but Buffalo treats its version as a hometown specialty. Old local ads called it "chocolate covered honeycomb."
No one knows exactly where it came from. Fowler's Chocolates traces its start to Joseph Fowler selling sweets at Buffalo's 1901 Pan-American Exposition, and it calls its sponge candy the "original and authentic." Even Fowler's admits that the candy's exact origin is unknown. Other long-running makers include Parkside Candy (1927) and Watson's (1946). Locals say Buffalo's cool climate helps, because the candy is very sensitive to heat and humidity.
Did you know? In 2015 Fowler's worked with Buffalo's mayor to declare September 21 National Sponge Candy Day.