Recipe: Homemade Chocolate Saltwater Taffy

CHOCOLATE SALTWATER TAFFY

"Saltwater taffy has a distinctive salty flavor, but it got its name when a famous taffy shop on Atlantic City's boardwalk was flooded with ocean water. This recipe, although time consuming and a bit messy, is a lot of fun if you enjoy getting your hands dirty. You'll need a pastry brush and a candy thermometer."

Unsalted butter (for greasing pan, cutting board, hands, scissors and wax paper)
1 cup sugar (250 ml)
3/4 cup light corn syrup (175 ml)
2/3 cup water (150 ml)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (15 ml)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (15 ml)
1 ounce semisweet chocolate (30 g)
1 teaspoon salt (5 ml)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 ml)
Wax paper (for wrapping candies)

Butter an 8x8-inch (20x20-cm) square pan.

Fill a small bowl with cold water and wet a pastry brush; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water, cornstarch, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, chocolate and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until a candy thermometer registers 256 degrees F (124C). While cooking the mixture, brush down the insides of the pan with the wet pastry brush every few seconds to prevent the sugar from crystallizing. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Pour mixture into buttered pan. Be careful, mixture is hot and can burn your skin easily. Butter a large cutting board.

When the candy mixture is cool enough to handle, butter your hands and pull taffy until it is light in color and has a satiny gloss. This is a messy process but have fun with it. You'll need to pull taffy for about 10 minutes.

Roll the taffy into a long rope about 1/2-inch (1-cm) in diameter and put it on the buttered board

Butter a pair of scissors and cut the rope into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces. Don't worry if the pieces are uneven. Let the pieces sit for about 30 minutes.

Individually wrap each candy in a buttered piece of wax paper larger than the candy and twist the ends.

Makes about 36 candies
Source: Dana Speer