Salt Water Taffy

Salt water taffy is a sweet colored candy that comes in a variety of flavors. It was produced in the Atlantic city of New Jersey, during the late 19th century.  The taffy is made from sugar and butter, along with other ingredients like glycerin and corn syrup to make it stickier.

History

Surprisingly, Saltwater Taffy does not have any saltwater in it and its name mainly comes from its origin, where first of its assortments were made in the Atlantic City.  The saltwater candy lovers suggest that the candy got its name mainly from an incident that took place in Atlantic city, NJ many years ago. The candy shop of David Bradley was destroyed by the flood in 1883 and when he was cleaning up the shop the next day, a girl had come to him to ask for the taffy.  Bradley offered the girl taffy by the name “saltwater taffy” out of a joke, because all the candies in his shop got soaked in salt water due to the flood.

 Ingredients

The saltwater recipe is made of cornstarch, sugar, glycerin, corn syrup, salt, flavor, water, butter and food color. Different food flavors are added to the candy including maple, vanilla, lemon, banana, chocolate, and mint.  Some of the unusual salt water taffy flavors are caramel, berries and cream, eggnog, and caramel apple.

 

Preparation

The traditional method of making the saltwater taffy was to heat up all the ingredients in big copper pots or kettles. Then, it was put on the slabs for cooling down the mixture. Once, the mixture was cooled, the taffy makers would hook and drape it on the wall and then pull it with their hands to more than 6 feet. When it was about to fall, the mixture was again over lapped back to the hook and then stretched out again. This was done number of times to ensure it gets softer, which further helped in the prevention of stickiness. When the consistency was obtained, it was rolled up like ropes and cut down with greased scissors and wrapped in wax papers.

The modern method of making the saltwater Taffy includes heating up the ingredients to a temperature of 250 F in big stainless steel kettles, cooled and poured into the machines for pulling and stretching.  The colors and flavors are added during this time of saltwater recipe and then the mixture is cut and wrapped through machines.

 

Serving

The saltwater taffy is eaten by people of all ages. It is widely available in the United States and especially in the Broadwalk part of New Jersey. The Atlantic City has two major sellers of saltwater taffy that produce candies in large quantities for the people visiting the nearby beach.  There are many flavors that are available in the candy and one can get as many as 50 different flavors of saltwater taffy.

Health and Nutrition facts

One piece of salt water taffy or 15 gm of saltwater taffy contains:

0.5 gm of fat

60 calories

1 mg of calcium

1 mg of cholesterol

15 units of Vitamin A

10.27 gm sugar

8 mg of salt

Eating 1 or 2 saltwater candy along with a piece of fruit or raw vegetables can serve as a power packed snack.

 

Trivia:

 

  1. Fralinger’s and James Salt Water Taffy are the two companies that sell saltwater taffy with more than 50 varieties of flavors.  
  2. They are also sold as souvenirs to the vacationers to Atlantic City.
  3. Salt water taffy is also available at amusement or theme parks in the United States