taffy

taffy, flavoured syrup candy of Europe and the Americas that is cooked and then rigorously worked during cooling into a hard, chewy, glossy mass. Although the great 19th-century demand for taffy gave way in the mid-20th century to the popularity of chocolates and caramels, taffy remained widely available in its original “penny candy” form of small, colourfully wrapped pieces.

The basic recipe for taffy calls for sugar and molasses or corn syrup to be heated with water to a prescribed temperature. This cooked mass is then poured over cooling slabs and flavoured with essential oils. As it cools, the candy is rhythmically pulled, spread, and folded until it takes on a firm, satiny consistency. Saltwater taffy, once a staple of amusement parks and ocean resorts, took its name from a characteristic ingredient.

Toffee, a brittle confection of English origin, is a highly cooked mixture of syrup and butter to which nutmeats, flavourings, and colourings are commonly added during cooling.