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3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla or mint flavoring, or a
few drops oil of mint or rum or brandy extract
Combine the sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt in
a 4-quart saucepan. Stir until boiling, and wash down any
undissolved sugar from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush
dipped in water.
Add the butter and continue boiling without
stirring until the candy thermometer registers 256 to 264 degrees.
The lower temperature will give a chewier taffy, and the higher
heat a more brittle product.
Turn out on a marble slab or large platter or pan
that has been oiled well with vegetable oil. If using a large
marbles slab, turn out the hot batch into two pools.
A few drops of food coloring can also be added to
the top of the candy now. Or you may wait until it is being pulled
and add several colors.
The edge of the taffy will cool fairly quickly,
and when it can be comfortably touched with well-buttered or oiled
fingers, turn it inward to form a mass.
Taffy is ready to pull as soon as it can be
handled, which is usually sooner than expected. Have the palms and
fingers well greased.
You'll probably like the flavor of butter for
this, although margarine or vegetable oil can be used.
Take the warm, flowing candy up with the
fingertips and pull out about 12 inches at first. Quickly turn the
candy back from the fingertips of one hand to the other hand, then
catch the center and again pull, always with the fingertips. This
incorporates air in the mixture and gives its typical
texture.
If adding a food coloring at this point, pause
briefly and put a drop or two of color along the taffy and flop
the mixture over on the color, and continue pulling until the
color is mixed evenly.
When the taffy is very hard to pull and will hold
its shape if laid out on the marble slab or pan, it is ready to
break off into pieces, but preferably it should be cut with
greased scissors.
If making several colors of taffy, you may pull
each out until thin and then twist them together.
For a completely round candy, like a peppermint candy stick
or cane, roll this twisted mixture on the marble slab
to make it even.
Store taffy in airtight containers, such as cookie
tins, between sheets of wax paper or foil, for any moisture in the
air will make it quite sticky.
It is for this reason that taffy is
generally sold with the pieces individually wrapped.
To make Salt Water Taffy add 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons
of salt to the recipe for Taffy.
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