To-Die-For-Good Taffy

I have cooked more bad taffy than most people, but, now that I've managed to cook some good taffy, I'd like to share what I've learned. (I have never understood--or maybe just never liked--the motivation for having secret recipes.)

In my opinion, taffy made like this is the best candy ever, and pulling it adds a social dimension that is missing in most candy making. I got this recipe from my mother, who, ironically, didn't cook taffy very often. I think the recipe was commonly known at one time.

Valley Taffy

1 pint cream
1 pint white corn syrup
2 lbs. or 4 cups white cane sugar (C & H makes a good quality cane sugar.)
Paraffin, the size of a walnut, or 1/2 inch cut from the end of a bar
2 t. cold water
1 t. vanilla
1 T. unflavored gelatin
Butter (no margarine), for greasing cooling pans

Measure the sugar into a six or eight quart pan and then add the gelatin.  Stir well until all gelatin is evenly distributed throughout the sugar.  Add cream and stir again, to incorporate liquid thoroughly into the sugar and gelatin mixture.  Add corn syrup and heat the mixture, stirring till all the sugar is dissolved.  Add paraffin and vanilla and continue cooking. Set up candy thermometer to track taffy temperature till it's finished.

Cook the taffy to the firm ball stage, which is 245-248 degrees. Pour the taffy into four, five, or six pie pans to cool (depending on how many taffy pulling teams you have), making a layer of taffy about 1/4 inch thick. As the taffy cools, with a scraper, fold the edges in toward the center.

When it's cool enough to handle, begin pulling it with buttered hands. Pull until it's white, then form it into a rope about 3/4 inch in diameter and twist it. Lay it on waxed paper and then snip it into pieces about an inch long.

Any taffy that survives the sampling process should be stored in a cool place in single layers on waxed paper in an air-tight container, or individually wrapped in waxed paper cut into 3-4-inch squares.

Yield: Enough taffy for 4-6 taffy-pulling teams--8-12 people.  When divided into six portions for pulling, the resulting taffy yields enough for each person to have about a sandwich-sized bag of wrapped taffy pieces.

Special Supplies: candy thermometer, kitchen shears, pie pans, waxed paper, small zipper bags

Additional Notes:

--It's important to test your thermometer for accuracy before you begin cooking taffy. My thermometer is about 7 degrees off--enough to make the difference between perfect taffy and too-hard taffy. Check the temperature at which water boils on your thermometer, and note the variation from 212 degrees. Adjust the firm-ball temperature you're aiming for accordingly. My taffy is done when the thermometer reads 238 degrees. Figuring this out was the single biggest factor in my being able to cook good taffy.

--Start making taffy 1 1/2 to 2 hours ahead of the time you want to start pulling it. The heat can be adjusted between medium and high to vary the cooking time as necessary. Cooling at room temperature might take about 30 minutes, but it can be done faster if it's taken to a cold place.

--If you're cooking several batches of taffy, it's better to cook in separate kettles than in one big one. Stagger the starting times a bit so that you don't have to put it all out at once, and so that you can use the same thermometer for the final minutes of each batch.

--Use the time while the taffy is cooking (It does not need constant stirring.) to grease the cooling pans. I do this by unwrapping the end of a stick of butter and rubbing it generously over the bottom of the pan and slightly up the sides.

--Always use real butter for greasing the pans. Margarine contains liquid, which "cooks off" in the cooling pans in the spot where you pour the hot taffy. Then the taffy always sticks in that spot.

--Use a heat-proof (Pampered Chef brand or silicone) scraper for taffy. It's very hot, and could melt some scrapers.

--Make sure everyone washes hands well and rinses well before pulling taffy. Also, banish all traces of hand lotion.

--To pull taffy, first make a fat rope and form a loop at each end of it. Insert the upturned fingers of your left hand into the loop. Then, with your other hand (fingers down), grab the taffy "rope" at a point about 2/3 of the distance to the other person's hand. Pull the taffy toward you and release it behind your upturned fingers. This allows the taffy to flow around your fingers and back into the rope repeatedly. Your partner will be doing the same things at the same time, and you'll soon have a rhythmic pattern going.

--The purpose of pulling taffy is to incorporate air into it, making it more chewable and less hard and sticky. It becomes lighter in color as more air is incorporated. When it's done, it will have no darker streaks in it, and will be very light in color.

--A too-hard batch of taffy can sometimes be pulled if it's softened first by putting it into the microwave for about 10 seconds. Put it on a heat-proof pie pan or plate to heat it. This may need to be done repeatedly. (This really complicates taffy pulling, and can be avoided by cooking to the right temperature.) If it's too soft, pull it in a cold room to stiffen it up.

--If having taffy gluten-free is important, make sure the vanilla does not contain caramel color. All the other ingredients are OK.

--Soak all taffy dishes in hot soapy water as soon as possible after cooking to ease cleanup.

--Use a sturdy kitchen shears for cutting taffy into pieces. If the texture is just right, craft scissors can be used safely also.

--If you cook taffy for a big group, it's nice to provide zippered bags for people to use for taking taffy home. If it's worth the time and trouble, each piece can be wrapped in a small square of waxed paper to keep it from sticking to other pieces.

--Popcorn is a good accompaniment to taffy. Water or other unsweetened hot or cold drinks are good additions.

--Count the number of people who will be helping pull taffy, and divide by two to figure out how many batches of taffy to cook and how many pans you will need to pour it into.

--Children as young as four years old can enjoy pulling taffy if they work with a partner who shows them how.

--Pulling taffy is a really good group activity and makes possible a very comfortable level of interaction between people who may or may not know each other well.

--If you're splitting the cost for taffy, $1.00 per person (2008 prices) compensates the purchaser adequately if you're buying everything at grocery store prices. Sugar, cream, corn syrup, butter, waxed paper, and zipper bags are the main consumable expenses.

Note added in 2014:  I made some changes to the procedures published here earlier, mainly involving the gelatin.  I often ended up with tiny lumps of burnt gelatin in the taffy.  Adding it after the process was underway seemed to require a great deal of stirring to avoid having it settle on the bottom and begin to scorch.  I'm going to try mixing the gelatin with the dry sugar right at the start, as suggested in another recipe I read.

The other change I made to the recipe is to increase the amount of sugar.  The earlier amount in cups was far less than 2 lbs. of sugar, and 4 cups sugar is far more nearly equivalent to 2 lbs.  I almost never increase the amount of sugar in a recipe, but I decided to try it this year, and the taffy turned out very well.

One other thing I realized this year is that I can very nearly tell when the taffy is cooked just right by noting the color.  It should be caramel-colored at the firm-ball stage.  If you think about the texture of caramel candy, you'll realize that it's a lot like the texture of "unpulled" taffy.  Therefore, the color similarity is explained as well.  The visual clue, along with the thermometer readings, gives added assurance that cooking taffy "right" can be managed even if it's attempted in a variety of geographic areas.