Monthly Archives: August 2011

The Ultimate Taffy Blog – Part Deux

Last time we examined the history and process through which taffy is made. This time we dive into the many different types of taffy available. Join me on this adventure!

Do you want to know what my favorite part about taffy is? It would have to be the massive amount of variety offered! There is something for everybody.

Taffy comes in almost every possible flavor, everything from vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and banana to wild blue raspberry, golden pear and caramel cheesecake. Can’t decide on which flavor you want to buy? Why not try one of the fantastic assortments that are offered!

Bonomo Turkish Taffy assorted includes vanilla, chocolate, banana, and strawberry. Taffy Town salt-water taffy assorted comes with 5 pounds of taffy for under $18! If you love all things berry flavored, try the Berry Crème assortment, which comes with everything from strawberry and creme, blueberry and creme, and blue and red raspberry and creme.

Although you may recognize the name Bonomo, you may not know that the company is back from taking a more than 20 year break. Nothing smacks like, cracks like, tastes like Bonomo Turkish Taffy!

Heck, salt-water taffy is even offered in sugar-free assorted! Can you believe that? Sugar-free salt-water taffy.

Did you know that Taffy Town was voted “Best Taffy” award by the Utah top 100 and has been in business since 1916!

Want to try something new? How about Black taffy? Black taffy is black licorice flavored taffy, which, if you like black licorice, is sure to be a treat. Or try BB Bats peanut butter flavored taffy, part of an assorted pack.

Black taffy has also been known as Black Jack Taffy as well as Black Jacks, not to be confused with Black Jack gum of course. And BB Bats use to be produced back in the 1920s, and in my opinion, the best taffy on a stick you can buy!

Want a blast from the past? How about trying McGraws giant taffy or mint julep or even Kits chews! McGraws giant taffy is a taffy bar unlike any other. At over 2” wide and almost a foot long, this bar is huge, and with a rainbow of colors and fruit flavors, it is sure to please!

Don’t want just plain old taffy? Try Abba Zabba which is peanut butter on the inside and taffy on the outside. Or bit-o-honey, which is mini twists of almond bits blended into honey flavored taffy. Both of which are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Did you know that Aba Zabba bars are kosher certified and have been in production since 1922 and bit-o-honey has been in production since 1924 and is currently being produced by Nestle?

There is even taffy that your kids will love. Airheads, Laffy Taffy, and Now & Later are candies that I grew up loving and are sure to please for generations to come.

There are always 8 flavors of airheads in production and they are: cherry, strawberry, blue raspberry, watermelon, green apple, white mystery, pink lemonade and orange, and at least 3 times a year they make special flavors that are available for a limited time.

Did you know that the slogan for Now and Later is “Hard ‘N Fruity Now and Soft ‘N Chewy Later,” which recently replaced “Eat Some Now. Save Some for Later.”

I just had a Laffy Taffy banana flavored taffy today and it was exactly how I remembered it. And did you know? Every wrapper has a joke on it.

Mine were: Q: Why was the policeman in bed? A: Because he was an undercover cop. And, Q: Where do cows go to have fun? A: The moo-vies! Haha, gotta love classic jokes, always good for a chuckle.

Did you know that Laffy Taffy comes in rope form too?! So in addition to the classic round salt-water taffy, the regular sized taffy bars, the miniature bars, and the log-shaped Bonomo’s taffy, you can add rope shaped to that list.

Taffy comes in just about every size, shape, and flavor imaginable.

Candy Direct sells taffy in quantities that are sure to satisfy all appetites and budgets. Whether you are looking for miniature or regular sized taffy in display boxes or 2.5 – 5 pound bulk sizes, Candy Direct has you covered!

Finally, we want to know what kind of taffy you had growing up as a kid. Abba Zaba was created by a northern California company, and thus is more known by west coast dwellers, where as Bonomo Turkish Taffy, along with NECCO’s Mary Jane, Mint Julep, and Squirrell Nut – Zippers, are primarily known by east coast dwellers.

This article is intern approved! Matthew Rogers

The Ultimate Taffy Blog – Part 1

Taffy is a relatively easy product to make, when it comes to the ingredients anyway. In fact the ingredient list is extremely short compared to other candy products, you only need sugar, corn syrup, water, butter, salt and any flavoring you choose. The ingredients are heated anywhere between 250 and 270 degrees, lower temperatures for chewier taffy, warmer temperatures for more brittle taffy.

Do a quick search however and you will soon find that making taffy is an extremely labor intensive process. Not only do you have to stir the taffy at precisely the right times during the cooking process, you need to take a minimum of 10, some recipes say up to 30 minutes to “pull” the taffy.

Pulling the taffy aerates the candy, meaning it adds tiny air bubbles throughout, which makes it lighter and chewier. Can you imagine having to “pull” anywhere from 10 to 25 pounds of taffy, over and over, until it is of the desired thickness and consistency? I don’t know about you, but that would certainly make my arms extremely tired.

Then after you have finished doing the pulling, you  have to chop the taffy into 1-inch blocks and individually wrap every single piece!

Instead of spending all that time and energy making your own taffy, we recommend saving yourself and simply purchasing some of the fantastic taffy that Candy Direct has to offer.

Fun Fact: The entire taffy making process is now automated. Not only do machines do the pulling of the taffy, but they now chop and wrap up to 700 pieces of taffy a minute!

Let’s begin our exploration of the taffy world with a brief history lesson.

Have you ever wondered where the term “salt water taffy” came from? Well nobody knows for sure, but the most commonly recognized story involved an Atlantic City Boardwalk shopkeeper by the name of David Bradley.

An unusually large storm swamped Bradley’s store and covered all his taffy with seawater. As David was cleaning up the mess the storm left behind, a girl came into his store and asked for a bag of taffy. David sarcastically replied, “don’t you mean ‘salt water taffy?’” The name stuck, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Next time we will dive into just some of the hundreds of taffy products available. Let me tell you, the quantity is astounding! Check out all of Candy Direct‘s taffy products here!

Credit photos:

http://amazingcandy.wikispaces.com/How+It%27s+Made

http://cookingweekends.blogspot.com/2010/07/cape-cod-salt-water-taffy.html

This blog is intern approved! Matthew Rogers