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Butter Taffy
2 cups light brown sugar 2 tablespoons water 1/4 cup molasses 7/8 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons vinegar 1/4 cup butter 2 teaspoones vanilla Boil first five ingredients until, when tried in cold water mixture will become brittle. When nearly done, add butter, and just before turning into pan, vanilla. Cool, and mark in squares.
A straightforward hard-crack candy that depends entirely on temperature. The original test is the cold-water test; a thermometer does the same job with less guesswork.
- The hinge: cold water test"Brittle" in cold water means the hard-crack stage, 300-310F (149-154C). Below that the taffy stays chewy and sticky at room temperature; much above it the brown sugar and molasses will scorch and turn bitter.
- Pan and heatUse a heavy saucepan at least three times the volume of the syrup, since brown sugar and molasses foam up hard. Medium heat throughout, and do not stir once the sugar has dissolved.
- Adding the butter"When nearly done" means somewhere short of the brittle stage, once the syrup has thickened noticeably. Cut the quarter cup of butter into pieces and add it gradually so the syrup does not drop out of the boil, then continue to the brittle stage.
- Vanilla lastVanilla extract is alcohol-based and its aroma volatilises quickly in boiling syrup, so adding it at the last moment, just before pouring, is exactly right.
- The salt quantitySeven-eighths of a teaspoon is a lot of salt for two cups of sugar, and may be a misprint for one-eighth, though a deliberately salty taffy is possible. A scant quarter teaspoon suits modern taste; add more only if you want a salted-caramel effect.
- Marking in squaresPour into a buttered 8-inch square pan or onto a buttered marble slab. Score with an oiled knife once the surface has set but the centre is still slightly yielding, then break along the lines when cold.
- Yield and keepingRoughly a pound of candy, cut into small squares. Wrap the pieces individually in waxed paper and keep airtight; brown-sugar taffy draws moisture from the air and turns tacky quickly otherwise.
- HumidityDo not attempt this on a damp day without a thermometer. High humidity both slows the boil and softens the finished candy.
Butter taffy belongs to the American home-candy tradition that flourished from the mid-nineteenth century onward, when sugar became cheap enough for households to boil sweets for amusement as much as for eating; the taffy pull was a common parlour entertainment. "Taffy" and "toffee" are related words of uncertain origin, both recorded in the early nineteenth century, with "taffy" the usual American spelling. The vinegar here is not for flavour but chemistry: an acid encourages some of the sucrose to break down into glucose and fructose, which keeps the boiled syrup from crystallising into a grainy mass.