Half Moon Bay Salt Water Taffy -Suite #28

 

At Half Moon Bay Salt Water Taffy Co. candy is our specialty! This coastal town has long awaited a store that offers various flavors of Salt Water Taffy, and other old fashion candy. Inside the store you can enjoy an atmosphere that gives a true sense of the coast-side with barrel candy, coastal art, and handcrafted reclaimed wood furniture. Half Moon Bay Harbor has many things to offer, so come take a walk on the beach, dine at one of our great restaurants, but don’t forget to leave the coast without some mouthwatering Salt Water Taffy!
Over 20 flavors of Salt Water Taffy
-Old fashion candy
-Old Pine Furnishings
- Wooden Kids toys
Phone: 650.200.8526

Salt Water Taffy Recipe

Saltwater taffy is a candy and an upper-body workout all in one. To give it its light but chewy texture, you’ll be pulling it, and pulling it, and pulling it for up to 15 minutes.

Makes about 50 1-inch pieces.

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons glycerin (optional)
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1 teaspoon flavoring (such as vanilla, lemon, maple, or mint)
• 3 drops food coloring (optional)

• a large (3- to 4-quart) saucepan
• a wooden spoon
• a candy thermometer
• a pastry brush
• waxed paper or plastic wrap
• a marble slab or cookie sheet
• greased scissors or butter knife

What Do I Do?

1. Mix together sugar and cornstarch in the saucepan.

2. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the corn syrup, glycerin, water, butter, and salt. Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.

3. Continue stirring until mixture begins to boil, then let cook, undisturbed, until it reaches about 270° 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.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add food coloring and flavoring. Stir gently, then pour onto a greased marble slab or into a shallow greased cookie sheet to cool.

4. When the taffy is cool enough to handle, grease your hands with oil or butter and pull the taffy until it's light in color and has a satiny gloss. You can have a friend help with this step, which should take about 10 minutes.

5. 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.



What Else Can I Try?

• Try leaving out the corn syrup and see what happens! When we tried this, we ended up with a crystallized candy with a melt-in-your-mouth texture very similar to after-dinner mints.

• Try not pulling some of the taffy—what is the texture of the resulting candy?

• Try adding 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda before pouring out the syrup. This will create many tiny bubbles that should result in a lighter, chewier texture.

• Try twisting together taffy ropes of different colors or flavors for fun new combinations.

Good To Know About TAFFY

Taffy is a type of chewy candy, similar to toffee. Taffy is often sold alongside bubblegum and candy. Taffy is made by stretching or pulling a sticky mass of boiled sugar, butter or vegetable oil, flavorings, and coloring until fluffy. When this process is complete, the taffy is rolled, cut into small pastel-coloured pieces and wrapped in wax paper to keep it soft. It usually has a fruity flavor, but other flavors are common as well, including molasses and the classic unflavored taffy.

Salt water taffy was a noted invention of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and became a common souvenir of many coastal resort towns. Modern commercial taffy is made primarily from corn syrup, glycerin and butter. The pulling process, which makes the candy lighter and chewier, consists of stretching out the mixture, folding it over and stretching it out again. Although it is called "salt water" taffy, it does not include any salt water in its manufacture at all. In the nearby Philadelphia regional dialect, the term "taffy" without "salt water" before it often refers to a lollypop or sucker[1].

In the United Kingdom, taffy candies are called chews. They are shaped pieces of candy very similar to soft toffee but without the caramel flavouring, and can be found in the form of popular brands such as Chewits or Starburst and Laffy Taffy.

Caramel candies are sometimes referred to as taffy (taffy apples), but are very different from common salt water taffy.