Grandmas Taffy Recipes

GRANDMA A'S CLOTHESLINE TAFFY

Steps:

• 1. Butter 1 or 2 large jelly roll pans (something flat, but with sides) and set aside. Soften the gelatin in the cold water in a small bowl. Set aside.
• 2. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, stir sugar, milk, syrup, butter and paraffin together over medium high heat until it boils.
• 3. Add the softened gelatin, and continue to cook, stirring constantly, to the hard ball test in a small cup of cold water. (250°to 255°F)
• 4. Stir in nutmeats or flavorings and pour onto buttered pans to cool. Cool until you are able to hold your hand on the bottom of the pan.
• 5. Wash hands and butter them a little. Take a glob of the candy from the pan and pull it until stiff and white and glossy. (Keep hands buttered if it is sticky--Not too much butter) This is when it comes in handy to have several people to pull the taffy. Give each child their own small glob to pull (making sure it is cool enough for little buttered hands), and have the adults work in pairs to pull larger batches. Work hand over hand, pulling and stretching between partners until taffy becomes very hard to pull and white.
• 6. When the taffy has been pulled sufficiently,pull and form it into ropes about 3/4 to 1 inch diameter and lay them back on the buttered pans to cool completely. Try to keep them from touching each other by laying them out in a coiled or snake like pattern.
• 7. Let cool completely and crack into bite sized pieces with meat pounder, mallet, the back of a heavy knife, etc. Just hit it and it should crack easily. Wrap pieces in waxed paper and store in airtight container where it is cool and dry.

GRANDMA'S OLD-FASHIONED CREAM CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-inch pan with aluminum foil so that the foil goes up the sides of the pan. With a paper towel, coat the foil with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Set aside.
• In a 4-quart or larger heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and corn syrup. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil, about 5 minutes. Wash the sides of the pan down 2 times with a pastry brush dipped in warm water to prevent the sugar from crystallizing.
• Place a candy thermometer in the pan with the hot sugar, and increase the heat to medium-high. Continue to cook the candy without stirring until it registers 305° F on the candy thermometer, about 15 minutes.
• While the hot sugar cooks, heat the cream in a separate small saucepan or in the microwave until it's hot. Set aside.
• Remove the sugar mixture saucepan from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of the butter until it's melted in. Return the pan to medium heat, and add the remaining tablespoon butter a little at a time, keeping the mixture boiling.
• Slowly and carefully add the hot cream to the caramel sugar mixture. Be careful as the mixture will bubble up and steam and can cause burns. Stirring continuously, cook the caramel until the mixture reaches 250° F on the candy thermometer, about 10 - 15 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat, and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the ½ teaspoon salt and vanilla. Pour the caramel into the prepared foil lined pan, and let sit for at least 8 hours at room temperature.
• After the caramel has rested, coat a cutting board and the blade of a chef's knife with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil.
• Invert the foil-lined pan of caramel onto the cutting board, and peel the foil off of the caramel.
• Cut the caramel into bite sized pieces.

GRANDMA PAUL'S CARAMEL CORN

Steps:

• Over medium heat, combine first four ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Stir well. Pour over 8 quarts popped corn. Stir to coat well. Bake in large roaster or pan at 200 °F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper to dry. Yields about 8 quarts.

GRANDMA'S TAFFY

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the butter, salt, corn syrup and water; mix well. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to mix in butter. Heat to 275 degrees F (134 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped from a spoon forms hard but pliable threads.
• Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla, flavored extract and food coloring. Pour into a greased 8x8 inch baking dish. When cooled enough to handle, remove candy from the pan, and pull until it loses its shine and becomes stiff. Pull into ropes, and use scissors to cut into 1 inch pieces. Wrap each piece in waxed paper.