After talking with a few out of towners, I live in
Buffalo NY, I realized not many people are aware of what
sponge candy is. I'm pretty sure it isn't native to
New York, but since some people I've talked to have never heard of it.
Sponge candy, or
Honeycomb Toffee, is made by heating,
corn syrup (or various other syrups can be used),
vinegar, and
sugar. After the mixture reaches the correct
temperature, you add baking soda which causes the
vinegar to bubble up in the corn syrup. After chilling, the result is a
brick of golden, sponge-like
candy. This brick is cut into squares and then coated with
chocolate. Sponge candy tastes pretty good, even though it's basically
chocolate covered
sugar.
A
recipe can be found here:
http://www.cooksrecipes.com/candy/old-fashioned-sponge-candy-recipe.html