Hard sweets made by boiling sugar, milk, often with a little starch, to the firm-ball stage. Set in slabs or formed into individual sweets. Known in England at least since The Cook's and Confectioners Dictionary by John Nott (Nott 1723)
The colour and taste comes from a reaction between sugar aldehydes and a protein in the cream, known as the Maillard reaction, after Louis Camille Maillard (1878-1936)