Toasted benne seeds bound in hard caramel into a thin brittle — the Gullah good-luck candy, sold on Charleston streets by Black women for generations, the sesame seed sweetened but never severed from its African root.
Benne candy and benne wafers were a Black women's enterprise in Charleston — made at home and sold in the markets and on the streets, a small economy of Gullah confectionery rooted in the luck-seed of the enslaved. The candy is sweet, but it is also a record of Black women's commerce and the survival of an African plant.
Even as a sweet, benne candy carries the sesame seed's calcium, magnesium, copper, and cholesterol-lowering lignans — far more nutrient-dense than sugar-only confections. Sesame's healthy fats and minerals support bone and heart health. It is a sweet that at least gives something back, the seed doing quiet good inside the caramel.
Toast benne seeds until golden and fragrant, fold into a hot caramel (sugar cooked to hard-crack), pour thin onto a greased surface, and let set before breaking into shards. Toasting the seed first is non-negotiable — it makes the flavor.
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