Anyway, the recipe in itself is fairly easy. I had to purchase a 3.97 candy thermometer and light corn starch other than that I had the ingredients readily accessible. But if you want variety you could pick up flavored extracts (candy flavoring too). We just used vanilla this time.
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| I learned what a pastry brush it today. I think this worked just fine though. Well, except I despise wood utensils!! |
Salt Water Taffy
¾ cup water 2 cups sugar
1¼ cups light corn syrup 1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter Flavoring and coloring as desired*
*(1 teaspoon vanilla or desired amount of peppermint extract, lemon extract or other flavorings; a drop or two of red, yellow, green or blue food coloring.)
Combine water, sugar, corn syrup and salt in a heavy non-reactive saucepan, and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise heat and cook quickly, about 20 minutes, without stirring. Use a pastry brush dipped in cold water to brush down the sides of the pan to keep the mixture from crystallizing. Watch the boil carefully so the taffy does not burn. When a candy thermometer reads 265 degrees, remove the pan from the heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter, flavorings and colorings and stir gently.
Pour the taffy in three pieces onto a cookie sheet that has been generously buttered. When it is cool enough to handle, but still warm, have the kids rub butter on their hands, partner up, take a lump of taffy and pull and stretch it. (Don't allow the taffy to become completely cool or it will harden and become difficult to pull.) As they stretch out the taffy, twist it into a rope, bring the ends together, grab the loop and stretch it again. On the last few pulls, keep the strand smooth and not twisted.
Lay the taffy strand down on a buttered sheet of waxed paper. Lightly rub butter on a pair of kitchen scissors (a job for an adult) and cut the taffy into 1-inch, bite-sized pieces. Wrap each piece of candy in small squares of waxed paper and twist the ends.
You can get creative by pressing together two thin strands of different colored taffy, pulling them once together and then cutting them into pieces for a two-toned taffy. Or come up with different ways of rolling up a strand of taffy in a different colored piece of taffy to experiment with different patterns.
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| Photos courtesy of youngest son M. He didn't want to stretch any of it. |
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| This was when we got frustrated with it sticking to wax paper so K made it into a heart. She formed valves and all. Then both girls pretended it was their heart with jokes and all. |
*Now I "may" have put a tad but more vanilla than 1tsp but not more than 1 and 1/2. I didn't see the measurement when we did it so I thought it said to taste. Also, I added more than a drop or two of food coloring. The color I chose spilled out since it was not a dropper making it more than 6 or 7 drops. Otherwise we followed the recipe to a T with the kids bailing on waiting for it to get to 265 degrees. I was left on candy detail during that time.
The only complaint we have is that it was super duper sticky on your teeth. The kids were cracking me up trying to suck on it to prevent the sticky which made them sound like they had dental work done. The laughter during the wrapping and mumbling was priceless. I do hope it wasn't the extra vanilla or food coloring that did the sticky part. I just can't ever truly follow a recipe it seems.
*Last tip too...make sure to coat the wax paper with butter so the taffy doesn't stick to it when you set down to cut and when you wrap. We ended up throwing half of it away cause it hardened quickly and there was not generous buttering on the paper.
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| This is what was left after we ate some, tossed some and set some aside for K & C. |
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