Twig Taffy Recipes

Steps:

• Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. In a medium nonstick saucepan, combine sugar, 1 cup water, corn syrup, cornstarch, glycerin, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. Without stirring, cook until mixture registers 275 degrees (soft-crack stage) on a candy thermometer, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat; carefully stir in butter and extracts.
• Pour hot mixture onto prepared baking sheet. Allow edges to cool and set slightly; using a metal spatula coated with cooking spray, fold edges toward the middle (this will help cool taffy). When taffy is cool enough to handle but still quite warm, stretch and pull with lightly buttered fingers, folding the taffy over onto itself before pulling again until just starting to firm up, about 20 minutes.
• Before taffy cools and hardens too much, pull off ropelike pieces, and using kitchen scissors, make snips along sides. Gently stretch and pull snipped taffy on either end, forming thorny twigs. Snip into 7-inch lengths. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; let cool.

Steps:

• In a saucepan, mix together the sugar, corn syrup and butter, stirring over high heat until mixture reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Reduce heat and slowly add milk and cook until thermometer reaches 248 degrees F.
• Pour mixture onto the 4 buttered baking trays. When taffy is cool enough to handle, butter your hands and bring corners to the center to form into a ball. Take all 4 balls and form into 1 large ball.
• Place onto a table or marble slab so you and a helper can start the pulling process. Start folding and stretching your taffy ball. You should pull the taffy from your friend, fold over and over in your hands, then let your friend pull the taffy from you, repeating this process until the taffy turns light in color. Pulling the taffy adds tiny air bubbles throughout the candy, making it lighter and chewier.
• Place the taffy on your pulling table/slab, add the color and flavoring, and start the pulling process all over again until the liquids are well incorporated and the taffy is the color you want.
• Now you can lay the taffy on the table that has a small amount of cornstarch to keep it from sticking. While still soft, press into a 3/4-inch thick sheet. Take a yardstick and cut a straight line with buttered scissors or knife. Continue cutting the taffy into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide strips. Cut strips into pieces that you want to wrap, about 2-inches. Begin wrapping the pieces in the waxed paper and twisting the ends.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, place all the ingredients except extracts, and gently stir them to combine. Place a candy thermometer on the side of the pan and bring to a boil, stirring only to prevent burning. Cook to hardball stage (265 to 270 degrees), remove from the heat, stir in the extracts, and pour onto a silpat-lined sheet pan or buttered sheet pan. Let it cool enough to handle then start rolling it into a log and stretching or pulling the taffy to work air in and make it white and opaque. Keep pulling and twisting until it hardens. Form long ropes of taffy, then cut them into pieces.
• Some tips when making taffy: Oil the top 1-inch of the saucepan's wall to keep the sugar from boiling over. Always use a pan bigger than you think you need to prevent boiling over. Always use a burner as big or bigger than your pan's bottom. Never scrape the bottom of the pan at the end, just pour out the syrup. Wash down the sides of the pan with a clean wet pastry brush to avoid crystallization.

Steps:

• Add the sugar to a large pot fitted with a candy thermometer. Sift in the cornstarch and whisk into the sugar until well-combined. Add the butter, corn syrup, salt, water, vanilla, and flavor extract of choice to the pot. Whisk to combine, then turn the heat to medium and cook until the mixture reaches 250°F (120°C).
• Add the food coloring and stir to combine.
• Pour the candy into a greased heatproof dish and cool until you are able to handle it, 5-10 minutes.
• Stretch the mixture out 12 inches (30 cm) (or further) and fold it over itself again and again for 10-15 minutes. The taffy will turn from translucent to opaque.
• When the taffy becomes harder to pull, roll it to about a 30-inch (76-cm) long and 1-inch (2-cm) thick log on a greased surface. Cut the log in half. Then slice the taffy into bite-size chunks.
• Wrap each piece of taffy in a square of parchment paper and twist the ends to seal.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Butter 2 large baking sheets, and set them aside.
• In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Add corn syrup, water, butter and salt, and stir to blend. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook until the mixture reads 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, and immediately stir in the drink mix powder. Quickly pour out onto the prepared baking sheets, and let stand until cool enough to handle.
• Grab a few helpers, and butter everyone's hands. Stretch (pull) the taffy until it lightens in color, and becomes firm. Roll into bite size pieces, and wrap in small squares of waxed paper.

Steps:

• Butter a baking dish and set aside.
• In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, vinegar, butter, cream of tartar, and salt. Heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is melted. Do not stir once mixture comes to a boil.
• Cook candy until mixture reaches 250 to 265 degrees F (121 to 129 degrees C) on a candy thermometer, or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a rigid ball. Remove from heat and pour into prepared dish.
• Pull taffy by stretching out into a rope with buttered hands, folding the candy over and repeating, until taffy is white and porous and becomes too stiff to pull. Cut into 1-inch pieces with buttered kitchen shears. Wrap taffy pieces in waxed paper and store in an airtight container.