Almond Roca is a brand of chocolate-covered, hard
toffee with a coating of ground
almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...
s. It is similar to chocolate-covered
English toffee. The candy is manufactured by the Brown & Haley Co. of
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...
, founded in 1912 by Harry Brown and J.C. Haley.
Background
Almond Roca was invented in 1912 by Harry Brown and J. C. Haley, founders of Brown & Haley Company. The candy's name is said to have been inspired by Tacoma's head librarian,
Jacqueline Noel, who chose the Spanish word ''roca'', meaning 'rock' in English, to describe the hard, log-shaped confection.
Brown owned a small
confectionery store, and Haley worked for a spice company. They met at church in 1908 and started the business together in 1914 as the Oriole Candy Company.
They changed the name to Brown and Haley in 1919.
Brown & Haley first used Almond Roca's trademark pink
tin can containers in 1927 to extend the product's shelf life.
Individual pieces of Almond Roca candy are wrapped in gold-colored
aluminum foil.
In 2009, the Washington state legislature attempted to designate
Aplets & Cotlets the "official candy of the state of Washington". The proposal ultimately failed; some legislators from Western Washington thought the designation should go to Almond Roca.
Ingredients
Almond Roca contains
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
, almonds,
butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...
, palm oil,
palm kernel oil,
cocoa powder,
whey, skim milk powder, soya
lecithin,
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods.
Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...
, and
vanilla
Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia'').
''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...
.
By company tradition, a small amount of the original 1923 batch of toffee is carried over into each subsequent batch of candy.
Empirical studies have shown that the chocolate-and-almond coating of the candy includes the equivalent of two average-sized almonds.
Other varieties
Since 2003, Brown & Haley has expanded its line of chocolate-coated toffee, sea salt caramel, dark chocolate,
cashew
Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...
,
macadamia nut,
mocha (coffee-flavored), peppermint and sugar-free varieties.
See also
*
List of almond dishes
References
{{reflist
External links
Brown & Haley - Almond Roca page
Almond dishes
Brand name confectionery
Toffee
Culture of Tacoma, Washington
Food and drink companies based in Washington (state)