Homemade Taffy Recipe | Skip To My Lou (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade taffy hard? ›

If it's very cold outside, the candy is cooked at a lower temperature, which produces a softer candy. The opposite holds true when the temperature is above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. We cook the taffy to a higher degree, producing a slightly firmer piece of candy.

The Process of Making Taffy

Taffy is made using ingredients like corn syrup, sugar, oil, honey, egg whites, salt, and other natural and artificial flavors. Once the candy ingredients are heated to the perfect temperature and mixed thoroughly, it starts to transform into a sticky mixture.

Taffy is a type of candy invented in the United States, made by stretching and/or pulling a sticky mass of a soft candy base, made of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, and colorings, until it becomes aerated (tiny air bubbles produced), resulting in a light, fluffy and chewy candy.

Does salt water taffy expire? Yes, taffy can go bad and generally expires six months after purchase. Homemade taffy expires even sooner and only lasts 3-7 days.

Taffy is just as sensitive to cold as it is hot, meaning that melted taffy is easily rejuvenated to its regular consistency. The best solution to melted taffy is merely to let it set unbothered at room temperature (72 for a period of 24 hours.

Why do I add cornstarch? The addition of cornstarch (called cornflour in British recipes) helps give the taffy a smooth texture. Why do I add corn syrup? Corn syrup acts as an "interfering agent" in this and many other candy recipes.

If the sugar mixture is not cooked to the proper temperature (the hard-crack stage 300-310° F {149-154° C.} or if you are working in a kitchen with high humidity, chances are your candy is retaining too much moisture.

There was little or no salt added to the candy over 100 years ago or now. Manufacturers of the candy in seaside towns capitalize on the name of salt water taffy, but there is truly no difference between salt water and regular taffy.

The purpose of pulling the taffy is to add air in to the candy. This allows for millions of air bubbles to form which is how a clear batch of cooked taffy all of a sudden begins to turn bright white. The added air into the product also adds volume, and turns the candy into a much larger piece.

The difference is mainly in the candy-making process: taffy is pulled and stretched until it's soft and chewy. Toffee, on the other hand, won't stick in your teeth like taffy, because it is boiled, shaped, and allowed to harden into a delicious, glossy slab.

How to make taffy soft again? ›

Don't worry though, each has a quick solution for returning taffy back to its natural, delicious state. For melted taffy, try putting in the refrigerator for a few minutes before unwrapping. For cold taffy, place it a warm area of your abode and give it a bit of time to return to room temperature.

Crumble the chips in a bowl and add milk or water to cover the chips. Put it in the microwave and stir; the consistency should be like mashed potatoes. Once that is complete, open the bag completely so the inside of the bag is facing up. Lay the potato chip mixture on the bag, and flatten it out like a pancake.

Ingredients Corn syrup, Sugar, Palm Oil, and less than 2% of Mono- and Diglycerides, Hydrogenated Cottonseed oil, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Yellow 5.

At Taffy Town, however, we've taken the classic production process and given it an extraordinary twist that improves both the texture and flavor! Rather than using a pulling machine, each of our taffy batches are whipped in with a meringue to create an even fluffier air structure.