Cora Lee Toffee

A recent post on this board regarding Maurice Lenell Cookies got me thinking about other iconic foods of my mis-spent north suburban Jewish youth. One ubiquitous presence on every family table, and particularly at every bar/bat mitzvah and wedding worth the horah was Cora Lee Toffee.





I cannot express how much I love this toffee. I love it so much that i dragged twenty pounds of it to Arizona for my wedding. My In-Laws didnt understand, until they tasted the candy.

Made in Glenview, i have to avoid driving down waukegan road to avoid the sirens call of delicious delicous toffee. I can think of none better.


*photo taken from cora lee's website

iblock9,

Have you tasted Chocolate Potpourri's toffee? To me, it's more buttery tasting than Cora Lee's, but no doubt about it, they're both excellent toffees.

http://www.chocolatetruffles.com/index.aspx

Thanks for the heads up. I am going to make a little detour through glenview today on my way home and will do a side by side comparison.

While you're at it, I'd add Rich Chocolate's toffeeto the mix. It's right up there with the others

iblock9 wrote:Cora Lee Toffee....

Made in Glenview, i have to avoid driving down waukegan road to avoid the sirens call of delicious delicous toffee.

Retail location:

Cora Lee Candies, Inc.
1844 Waukegan Road
Glenview, Illinois 60025
847-724-2754 (phone)
847-724-4608 (fax)
9 am CST to 6 pm CST, Monday thru Saturday
www.coraleecandies.com

stevez wrote:While you're at it, I'd add Rich Chocolate's toffeeto the mix. It's right up there with the others

Rich's is on my list of must tries, however, I am partial to an english toffee.

BTW anyone have any insight why Jew's in Chicago are so partial to having toffee on the table at a wedding or bar mitzvah.? I am pretty sure this is just a chicago thing. I wonder about the origins of the tradition.

iblock9 wrote:BTW anyone have any insight why Jew's in Chicago are so partial to having toffee on the table at a wedding or bar mitzvah.? I am pretty sure this is just a chicago thing. I wonder about the origins of the tradition.

I think it has to do with the fact that once someone had Cora Lee's on the table and everyone raved about it, everyone else had to have it, too. And thus, a tradition is born, though the origin of the sweet table goes back to biblical days.

P.S. Such table accouterments have been around for quite some time. At my Bar Mitzvah, we had individual cakes on every table.

Had Cora Lee on the table at my wedding. I think the rabbi required it. I love the stuff.

Toffee must be a Chicago thing. In Detroit, when I was growing up, it was those candy sticks dipped in chocolate and little candy wafers with the name of the bar mitzvah boy or the bride and groom in icing.

But sweet tables are dictated by the Talmud.

The toffee isn't just a Chicago thing. My husband's family in Milwaukee and Madison always have high-quality toffee for holidays and family gatherings.

There are a few places that make excellent toffee which I enjoy. Sweet Margy Confection Diva has wonderful stuff for purchase online; she does very small-scale, handmade production. Piron in Evanston also has a very similar classic style. Coco Rouge does very artisanal, inventive flavors; the only reason I'm not completely happy with them, is that I fell in love with their maple and roasted-pecan toffee, and haven't found it since I've been back, as they change their flavors so frequently.

Sweet Margy
(http://www.confectiondiva.com/)

Piron
509-A Main Street, Evanston

Coco Rouge
1940 W. Division

I personally don't care for Terry's Toffee, which is a local favorite. For one thing, you pay something like $10.00 for 5 little pieces of it, but their toffee does not have enough salt for me. Every time I try it, I feel like it's too cloying, and needs some salt to balance that out. Otherwise it is a high quality product, but for their prices it is just not pleasant for me to eat.

Terry's Toffee
1117 W Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 733-2700

I like Terry's Toffee quite a bit, and perhaps enjoy the more subtle, less salty, flavor. I particularly enjoy their Lavender Toffee. It is expensive as toffee goes.

I don't think that Terry's Toffee should be salty by any means, I just feel it could use a little salt to balance it..