Roberta A. Mazzucco
Taffy is cooked at the Soft-Crack stage when the water content is low. Taffy making provides interesting physical changes as it goes from liquid to a hard sticky candy. Students also get a chance to feel the changes as they pull the mixture with their hands. This recipe was taken from the Science of Candy web site at http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/recipe-taffy.html
Materials: 2 cups sugar, 1cup light corn syrup, 3/4 cup water, 1teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons margarine or butter, 1/4 to 1teaspoon flavoring (vanilla, peppermint extract, cinnamon oil, etc.), 3 drops food coloring (optional)
Procedure:
1.
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Butter a large baking sheet and set to the side.
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2.
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Use a wooden spoon to stir in the corn syrup, water, butter, and salt. Place the saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
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3.
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Continue stirring until the mixture begins to boil. Stop stirring and let it cook undisturbed until it reaches about 270º F, or the soft-crack stage. Wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in warm water while the syrup cooks.
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4.
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Remove the saucepan from the heat and add food coloring and flavoring. Stir gently, and then pour onto a greased marble slab or into a shallow greased cookie sheet to cool.
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5.
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When the taffy is cool enough to handle, grease your hands with oil or butter and pull the taffy until its light in color and has a satiny gloss. You will need to have someone help with this step, which should take about 10 minutes.
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6.
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Roll the pulled taffy into a long rope, about 1/2 inch in diameter, and cut it with greased scissors or a butter knife into 1-inch-long pieces. Let the pieces sit for about half an hour before wrapping them in wax paper or plastic wrap and twisting the ends of the wrapper.
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Students should consider why they need to stop stirring the mixture after the syrup starts boiling? The molecules of sugar have split into fructose and glucose. Stirring can encourage them to reverse and reunite back into sucrose.
Why did the recipe require us to wash down the sides of the pan? There is a possibility that some grains of sugar could be clinging to the side of the pan. Even a few grains could encourage recrystalization.
Why does the recipe call for corn syrup? Once again the corn syrup contains long chains of glucose molecules which can prevent the sucrose from recrystalizing
Why do you have to pull the taffy? Pulling the taffy aerates it or allows tiny air bubbles throughout the candy and making it lighter and chewier.
This recipe can remade with some changes. Students could be put into groups and each might make one change in the recipe. Try leaving out the corn syrup. The candy will probably be crystallized. One group might try not pulling the taffy- what kind of texture will result? Try adding 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda before pouring out the syrup.
The fact that sugar solidifies into crystals is very important in candy making. There are basically 2 categories of candies - crystalline in which crystals are part of the final product such as fudge and noncrystalline which do not contain crystal, such as lollipops, caramel and taffy.