Valentine’s Day Taffy from the kitchen of Sharmagne Leland-St. John Supplies you will need: Candy thermometer with clip Long-handled wooden spoon Scissor greased with unsalted butter Marble slab or cookie sheet Wax paper or candy wrappers Pastry brush Heavy bottomed straight-sided saucepan Ingredients: 2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons cornflour 1 cup light corn syrup 3/4 cup water 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 to 1 teaspoon raspberry flavoring 3 drops red food colouring Red hots In a 3-4 quart saucepan mix together the sugar and corn flour. Attach the candy thermometer onto the inside of the pan. With a wooden spoon, stir in the water ,
corn syrup, butter and salt. Place saucepan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn heat up to medium and continue stirring until mixture begins to boil. Let cook
undisturbed until it reaches about 270 degrees. Or “soft-crack” stage. Dip your pastry brush in warm water and wash down the
sides of the pan to prevent crystallisation . Remove the pan
from the heat and add 2 tablespoons butter, flavouring and
colouring. Stir gently to combine. Pour taffy, separated into
three pieces, onto marble slab or buttered cookie sheet.
While waiting for the taffy to cool, have the children wash their hands well. When the taffy is still warm but cool enough to
handle, butter the hands, choose a partner, and get ready to
pull! Using just the fingertips, take a lump of the candy to stretch
it out to about 12 inches. Quickly fold the taffy back to your
partner. Catch the centre and pull again. During the pulling you
may twist the taffy into ropes; grab the loops and twist again,
but on the last few pulls keep the strands straight. Lay the taffy
down on a buttered sheet of wax paper. Take the buttered scissor
and cut the taffy into 1-inch bite-sized pieces. Press a red hot candy
into two sides of the candy and place the candy onto pre-cut pieces
of wax paper or candy wrappers fold over then twist the ends to seal.
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