Science of Cooking: Taffy Recipe: What’s Going On? (2024)

FAQs

What is the science behind making taffy? ›

The stretching and folding aerates and emulsifies the candy, incorporating small air bubbles and breaking down larger oil droplets. "Taffy is composed of oil droplets and air bubbles of various sizes dispersed in a viscoelastic matrix (sugar syrup)," Chan said.

In this taffy recipe, glycerin helps give the candy a soft, creamy consistency. Glycerin can be found in many drugstores, as well as some supermarkets and craft stores in the baking supplies section, or in cake-decorating stores.

The basic recipe for taffy calls for sugar and molasses or corn syrup to be heated with water to a prescribed temperature. This cooked mass is then poured over cooling slabs and flavoured with essential oils. As it cools, the candy is rhythmically pulled, spread, and folded until it takes on a firm, satiny consistency.

The simple answer is that there is too much moisture in your candy.

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.

Regular Taffy. Since salt water taffy gained its moniker following that offhanded comment after the flooding in Atlantic City, there is really no difference between salt water taffy and regular taffy. There was little or no salt added to the candy over 100 years ago or now.

Like all soft taffy, saltwater taffy is made by stretching or pulling a mixture of sugar and fat over and over until it becomes aerated, or filled with small air bubbles. This gives the mixture a soft, chewy texture that can then be molded into bite-sized pieces.

We cook each batch according to the temperature of the day. 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 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.

Tootsie Roll (/ˈtʊtsi/) is a chocolate-flavored candy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1907. The candy has qualities similar to both caramels and taffy without being exactly either confection. The manufacturer, Tootsie Roll Industries, is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Is Starburst a taffy? ›

Starburst (originally known as Opal Fruits) is the brand name of a box-shaped, fruit-flavoured soft taffy candy manufactured by The Wrigley Company, which is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated.

“In some sense, oil droplets and air bubbles are like rubber balls. When deformed in the taffy, they tend to return to their original, spherical shape because of surface tension. In other words, emulsification and aeration make taffy more elastic, hence, chewier.”

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.

If it becomes too hard to consume, is overly sticky, or has a foul odor, chances are your taffy has gone bad. To prevent this from happening, you can store your taffy candy in a cool, dry area. Saltwater taffy can last for up to one month in the fridge.

Saltwater taffy, without a doubt can and will melt if left in the heat for too long. The beauty about the World's Most Famous Taffy™ is that if given time in proper room temperature conditions, it will firm up and get back to where it was originally.

salt water taffy, a type of taffy (a chewy and soft candy) that originated in Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. The recipe for salt water taffy does not actually include salt water from the ocean, though it does usually call for salt and water, as well as sugar, corn syrup, butter, cornstarch, flavoring, and coloring.

There is no salt water in saltwater taffy

To make it very clear, as mentioned, there is no salt water specifically in saltwater taffy. However, sometimes there is salt, and water included in the ingredients list. This will depend on the flavor.

Recipes for salt water taffy vary; none contain actual salt water (and especially not ocean water!). However, both water and salt are usually added at some point during the production process, so the name still fits.