How to Make Hard Taffy
Hard taffy is fun to make as long as you don't try doing it on a day when the humidity is high. It takes several steps. You have to cook the syrup until it forms long stretchy strands after being dribbled into a glass of cold water. Then you add the flavoring and knead the candy until it firms up. Finally, pull the taffy and cut it into bits that can be wrapped and stored for a long time. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup light corn syrup
- 1/3 cup water
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, mint extract or other flavoring
- Food coloring
- Heavy saucepan
- Marble counter, cutting board or flat metal tray
- Kitchen shears
- Parchment or wax paper
- Heat-safe spatula or wooden spoon
- Candy thermometer
- Butter
Instructions
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1
Place the cutting board or flat metal tray into the freezer for at least 10 minutes before you pour the hot syrup. If you have a marble counter or cutting board, it will stay cold enough all by itself. The chill of the flat surface will start the taffy hardening as soon as you pour it.
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2
Mix 2 cups of sugar with 2/3 cup of light corn syrup and 1/3 cup of water in a heavy saucepan. Place over medium heat. Stir constantly until all the sugar has dissolved.
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3
Insert the candy thermometer and allow the syrup to cook until it reaches 270 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the soft-crack stage. If you dribble a small amount of the hot syrup into a glass of ice cold water, it will form strands of sugar that act like rubber bands when you stretch them with your fingers.
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4
Pour the syrup out onto the cold marble or chilled flat surface. It will make a thin puddle that thickens on contact. At first it will be too hot for you to touch. Wait 2 minutes before sprinkling the vanilla extract or other flavoring and any food coloring on top of the puddle.
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5
Butter your hands. Knead the taffy as soon as it is cool enough for you to touch it. This will work the coloring and flavoring into the candy. Pull the taffy toward you and fold it back over and over until it gets lighter in color and loses its sheen. It will become increasingly stiff. When it is too stiff to knead anymore, pull it into a long rope or snake shape with a diameter of around 1/4 inch. Use kitchen shears to cut it into 1-inch long pieces that you can wrap, store, give away or eat later.
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