Grandfather’s Taffy Recipe

My grandfather was born in 1868. My mother said his father was a candy maker in Ireland. This is the recipe that has been passed down through our family. I’ve enjoyed it for over 70 years.

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: Large batch

Prep Time: 5 min   Cook Time: about 15 min  

Ingredients

3 cups sugar
1 1/5 cups light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 package Knox gelatin
about 1/4 cube of paraffin wax
1/2 cube butter
1 tablespoon vanilla or your favorite flavor.

Directions

Put sugar and syrup into heavy kettle. Mix gelatin in the water and heat it till it is all melted. Add to sugar/syrup mixture. Slowly bring to a boil. Add paraffin. When temperature reaches 256 F turn off heat and remove from burner. Add butter and flavoring.

Pour into large greased pan. I use a 12 X 16 cake pan. My mother always put a couple inches of water in the bathtub and set the pan in the water to cool. As it cools, you can carefully pull the candy from the edges, to the middle, to help it cool faster. When it is cool enough to handle, butter your hands and pick up the candy. It is easy to pull with a partner or use a candy hook. My neighbor made me a hook out of a flat piece of medal to fit over the door, with the hook about head high, to make it easy for me to pull the taffy by myself.

Categories: Candy

Submitted by: velcro on November 16, 2012