our Story

The best toffee can’t be made from a recipe. It is a time-honored labor of love that is passed down from generation to generation. Diane Lawrence learned to make toffee from her mother, who learned to bake sweets from her mother. Under her mother’s watchful eye, Diane learned to understand toffee: the exact moment to take the pot of bubbling butter and sugar off the stove, the precise temperature for pouring the mixture into the pan, how thinly to spread the caramel sheet and what proportion of chocolate balances all the flavors. With that great knowledge and years of her own practice, Diane has learned to make killer toffee.

Diane carries on three generations of a love for baking by making toffee that causes friends’ eyes to light up when she arrives with a plate of her chocolate-covered bites of heaven. When invitations from friends included “Bring your toffee!” instead of “Bring your husband,” Diane decided to turn her homemade toffee into a business. She test-marketed her product with the most unsparing critics — teenagers inclined to dismiss anything their parents liked — and earned raised eyebrows of approval.

When a friend bought Diane’s toffee to give as thank-you gifts to clients and another friend placed an order to be given as wedding favors at her daughter’s wedding, Diane knew her business would be a success. Diane’s customers not only loved her toffee but they trusted her to deliver high quality when it mattered. 

Diane still makes her toffee by hand in North Carolina, now in a certified kitchen. She still uses the finest ingredients (the hours she spent finding just the right chocolate alone!), and she still uses a generous hand with the almonds. Now you can try her toffee, too. You don’t have to wait for a special occasion or invite Diane to dinner. You can find her toffee at shops listed on the Retailers page. 

One bite, and you’ll say what Diane has overheard for years: “Who made this Killer Toffee?”