Things You'll Need:
- Cookie sheet or marble slab
- Butter or oil for your hands
- Greased scissors or greased butter knife
- Plastic wrap or waxed paper
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Step 1
Place the sugar and the cornstarch together in a saucepan.
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Step 2
Blend in the corn syrup, water, glycerin, salt and butter using a wooden spoon.
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Step 3
Put the pan on the stove over medium heat and stir the ingredients until all of the sugar dissolves.
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Step 4
Stir the mixture continuously until it comes to a boil. Once it begins to boil, allow it cook without stirring, until the temperature reaches 270 degrees F, which is the soft crack stage in candy making.
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Step 5
Dip a pastry brush in warm water and wash down pan sides while the syrup is cooking to ensure that a single, undissolved crystal of sugar, called a seed crystal, doesn't fall into the hot mixture. If this happens, it can cause the recrystallization of all the sugar crystals.
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Step 6
Remove the pan from the stove and add any flavorings or food colorings that you desire and gently stir them into the hot syrup.
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Step 7
Pour the mixture onto a greased, shallow cookie sheet or onto a greased marble slab, then allow time for the syrupy mixture to become cool enough to handle.
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Step 1
Grease your hands with butter or oil once the taffy has become cool enough to handle.
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Step 2
Pull the taffy for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until it has a satiny gloss and becomes light in color. It is fun to have help with this step.
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Step 3
Roll the taffy, after you have finished pulling it, into a rope that is approximately ½ inch in diameter.
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Step 4
Cut the taffy roll into 1 inch-long pieces with a greased butter knife or scissors.
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Step 5
Allow the taffy pieces to rest for about ½ hour.
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Step 6
Wrap the taffy pieces in plastic wrap or wax paper and twist the ends closed.
