Toffee & Taffy

Toffee/Taffy - candy made by boiling together molasses, treacle, corn syrup or sugar along with butter and milk to the soft-ball or hard crack stage, then pulled until glossy. May be mixed with nuts, raisins, chocolate or various flavorings and covered with toppings. Toffee can be soft, sticky and chewy to hard, brittle and crunchy, depending on which stage it is cooked to - a lower heat results in softer, stickier candy, while a higher heat produces the harder version.

Honeycomb, sponge or cinder toffee (called Hokey Pokey in New Zealand) is an aerated version with bubbles made by adding baking soda and vinegar while mixing.

Taffy, or toffee is an 'old-time' candy, a favorite traditional candy you can make at home, especially since kids of all ages love a good 'taffy-pull'.

Salt Water Taffy is a version of taffy made with sugar, corn syrup, butter, milk, water and salt (hence the name: salt-water taffy?), and may also include other ingredients, such as molasses, or chocolate, as well as a variety of flavors. It is found in many colors (often pastels or multi-colored), variations, flavors and fillings, traditionally wrapped in wax-paper or plastic wrappings with twisted ends. It originated in Atlantic City, NJ in the 1880's, and retains a special popularity on the Eastern (Atlantic) seaboard. James' and Fralinger's remains one of the largest manufacturers and retailers of salt-water taffy in the US, and produces it in something like 36 flavors, as well as with a number of different fillings.

Gourmet toffee is produced by a large number of candy-crafting companies - both large and small.

Rich, buttery, old-fashioned English toffee is held in very high regard by many toffee lovers around the world.

And Canadians love their Mackintosh's Toffee, a.k.a. MACK toffee. (made by Nestle).

Home-made Salt Water Taffy

2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp. glycerin (optional)
3/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/4 to 1 tsp. flavoring (eg. vanilla, lemon, maple, or mint)
food coloring (optional)

In a large saucepan, mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Add corn syrup, glycerin (opt), water, butter and salt, stir well, using a wooden spoon.

Stir and heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves, and mixture starts to boil.

Allow to boil, without stirring, until it reaches 270° F on a candy thermometer (you may need to turn down the heat a little to prevent it from boiling over). While it boils, use a pastry brush dipped in warm water and wash down the sides of the pan. (Note: 270° is also known as the soft-crack stage. You can test to see if the candy has reached this stage by dropping a small amount from a clean spoon into a cup of very cold water: it will separate into hard but NOT brittle threads).

Remove immediately from heat and gently stir in flavoring and food color. (Note: for a lighter, chewier finished texture, try adding 1/8 tsp. baking soda at this stage, before pouring out to cool.) Also remember, if you wish to make more than one color or flavor, divide taffy syrup up first.

Pour the taffy out onto a greased marble slab or shallow cookie sheet and allow to cool enough to handle. (Idea: cookie sheet can be placed on top of a pan of cool or cold water to more closely simulate cool marble).

Butter your hands and pull the taffy until it is light in color, smooth and glossy (like satin). This may take about 10 or even 15 minutes. (It's nice to have a friend to help at this stage!).

Next, roll taffy into a long rope about 1/2 inch thick. Using a greased scissors or knife, cut into pieces around 1 inch long.

Allow taffy pieces to sit for half an hour or so and then wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap. Cut wax paper or plastic wrappers wide enough to twist the ends shut. Store in air-tight, sealed container.