Chocolate Taffy: National Taffy Day

Today is National Taffy Day. I must admit that I haven't made taffy since I was a child, and then it was with my Aunt Ann. She was an inspiration for all things foodie, woodsy, and crafty, so this was a natural. She'd gather all the cousins, and we would make and pull taffy.

At the same time, I wasn't adverse to store bought candy. It was a treat, really. There was a penny candy store I used to stop at after lunch (yes, we went home for lunch at my first elementary school) and buy a penny or two of candy. One of my favorites, and I think it may have cost a nickel, was Bonomo's Chocolate Turkish Taffy. I think my favorite was banana, but I also liked chocolate. You can still buy Bonomo's Turkish Taffy online, although the price is now $1.20. Times change.

So without a chocolate taffy recipe of my own, I went to Alton Brown on the Food Network, of course. Knew he'd have one.  Love to hear if you make this one.

CHOCOLATE TAFFY

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, plus additional for greasing pan and hands

Directions

In heavy medium saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir until thoroughly combined. Add corn syrup, water, and vinegar to pan and place over medium heat. Stir until sugar and cocoa dissolve, raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low, clip candy thermometer to side of pan and cook until mixture reaches 260 degrees F. Remove pan from heat, add the butter and stir. Butter edges of sheet pan, line with silicone baking sheet and pour on taffy. Allow to cool until you are able to handle it.

Once you are able to handle the taffy, don vinyl gloves, butter them, and begin to fold taffy in thirds using the silicone mat. Pick up taffy and begin to pull folding the taffy back on itself repeatedly twisting as you go. Taffy is done when it lightens in color, takes on a sheen, and becomes too hard to pull. Roll into log, cut into fourths, roll each fourth into a 1-inch wide log, and cut into 1-inch pieces. Making sure to keep pieces separated or they will stick to each other. Wrap individual pieces of candy in waxed paper. Store in airtight container 3 to 5 days.

Wanting to be Peanut Butter, But NOT!

I believe I have waxed poetic about what the heck nougat is before, but I'm going to do it again. Because it's weird. And it kind of pisses me off.

Speaking of weird, I HAVE to share with you my favorite quote of the day. This is in reference to that serial killer down in South Carolina. S.C. State Law Enforcement Deputy Director Neil Dolan said:

"We have him. He's our serial killer. He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird."

Just like nougat.

Okay this is from Wikipedia:

Nougat (pronounced /ˈnʌɡɨt/ or /ˈnuːɡɑː/ (Commonwealth) or /ˈnuːˌɡət/ (US) is a term used to describe a variety of similar traditional confectioneries made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios or hazelnuts are common), and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat can range from chewy to hard depending on its composition, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and chocolates.

There are two basic kinds of nougat: white and brown. White nougat (which appeared in Montélimar, France, in the 18th century) is made with beaten egg whites and is soft, whereas brown nougat (called nougatine in French) is made with caramelized sugar and has a firmer, often crunchy texture.

Whatever. Like THAT clears anything up.

Check this out:

This is Trader Joe's Lumpy Bumpy bar - see right there on the box where it says peanut nougat? Here's where it gets its name:

Ew.

And here's the nougat:

Seems to work with the Wikipedia definition. It's white, soft, and basically lame. Boring. It is EGG WHITES after all. Woowee. The caramel is nonexistent and the only peanut taste I can detect is from the peanuts themselves. The dark chocolate seems good, although it overpowered everything else. Save your money. The packaging is more creative than the candy.

Now here's my love, Reese's:

You can't read it here, but the wrapper says: light and fluff peanut butter flavored nougat. Now after learning about mockolate, we know that when it says "flavored" it means - tastes like, but isn't. Chocolate flavored, means this ain't real chocolate, but it tastes like it (aka mockolate). So this must be peaNOT butter.

While this is way better than the Lumpy Bumpy bar, it's no good either. Nougat blows. And it all tastes different. This isn't chewy or hard, it's kind of soft like a Three Musketeers bar. But it does taste more like peanut butter. But why bother with it? Have a Reese's! This is scary and weird.

Oh there's more:

This wrapper reads: terrific chewy nougat with peanuts.

This is more like the Wikipedia definition - it is chewy - like break your teeth chewy. I'm not big on the the teeth breaking part and it just doesn't have enough flavor to be worth all the work, much less the calories. BLEECH.

Who invented nougat and what haven't they been killed?

Oh yeah - the French. Figures.

Oh - it gets weirder.

Taffy has almost the same ingredients as nougat and this stuff sure tastes like the white stuff in the Big Hunk:

These are mini Abba-Zaba bars. A nostalgic candy (with creative new packaging) I found in Cracker Barrel. These and the Big Hunk are made by Annabelle's - one of those still standing small American candy makers that I love. But these were no good in my book either. The "taffy" is filled with peanut butter rather than having peanut in it. Either way - too hard, not worth it.

A MUCH better product is Wolfgang's Peanut Butter Kisses (reviewed about a year ago when I visited their factory in PA). Their taffy is soft and chewy and there's a lot more peanut butter - delish!

Nougat - unpredictable, scary, and weird. A candy serial killer. Don't say you haven't been warned.

The Grand Finale!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!


Sorry for my slackness in blogging. I have been doing a lot of dating since my recent relationship fiasco and it is sooooo time consuming! Those of you who are married, give your spouse a big kiss. The grass is definitely NOT greener out here. That's one of the big challenges in relationships - we always think there might be something better...... (we do the same thing with jobs, houses - lots of things). Us crazy humans are never satisfied, and therefore, never happy.

Well, here's something that really satisfies:

I love Snickers. I already showed you one of the terrific Valentine's Day assortments with the miniature Snickers bars, but look at these!! They taste delicious - and I love the design. I think this is one of the best looking Valentine's Day chocolates I've seen. Love it!! A+ for design and A+ for taste.

My first love (and at this rate, perhaps my last) is chocolate. Think of this entry as the grand finale, featuring a wild bombardment of all the Valentine's Day treats I have yet to review. (Feel free to say "Oooh" and "Ahh" just like you would at the fireworks finale on the 4th of July.)


Butterfinger and Crunch have the same packaging:

Notice the Spanish on the packaging. Much of our candy is now made in Mexico. More about that in an upcoming entry.



These are solid offerings if you like Crunch and Butterfinger. You can get the little foil wrapped guys or the larger single hearts. These are designed to compete with the Reese's Heart, I'm sure. (But they are no competition in my book. The Reese's Heart crushes there.) I also think the chocolate is sub par - kind of waxy. Of the two, I prefer the Butterfinger because I'm a sucker for peanut butter. But these are only average.

They aren't finished yet!





I like the Mini Butterfinger bars better. Solid blocks of peanut buttery crispness - yay! This assortment also has Mini Baby Ruth bars. I like the Baby Ruth - love the nuts and the chewy nougat. What about you all? What are your favorites?

Like the colors and the hearts:




Hershey's has another entry I found in the Hallmark store. I have completely given up on Russell Stover - glaack!! No mas!! Although Stover dominates in the boxed chocolate selection and they had some hilarious and gorgeous heart shaped boxes this year, I'm just not buying any more of that yucky chocolate.



If you like marshmallow - this is for you! It is simply a huge slab of marshmallow coated with Hershey's chocolate. Better than Russell Stover, but I really don't want this much marshmallow. Peanut better, yes! Marshmallow, no. I do, however, really like the package design. The touches of turquoise - very classy. I would totally buy this wrapper on a t-shirt.

Now here's a surprise out of left field:




This is Valentine Taffy from some random company called Sweet Time. I found it at Walgreens. It is completely addictive and I'm not even sure what the flavors were. (After eating the ENTIRE bag, I don't know what the flavors were. I know, I scare myself.) One tasted kind of like watermelon. All were REALLY good - I am NOT kidding! Low fat too! If you see these, they are totally cheap - buy them! I'm going to try to get some more. I think my dentist will love Sweet Time. Maybe it is run by dentists.





The clever packaging award goes to Toblerone:




Toblerone Bars are awesome. Great shape, great chocolate. This is the same old bar, but how perfect to make it look like a rose? GREAT job!! My picture doesn't do it justice - it really is a gorgeous looking rose. Oooh! Ahhh!


And my heroes at Vitalicious (of the 100 calorie, vitamin, protein, fiber packed treats) have a fantastic Valentine's Day offering:


Look at that gorgeous box! It contains a dozen, delicious 100 calorie heart-shaped cakes. How cute are these? And can you tell how moist they are? They are thick too - about 2.5 inches. The perfect, decadent but low cal treat. Oooh!!! Aaah!!!



I hope you had a great Valentine's Day and if you have someone in your life you love, you take a few minutes to really appreciate them. It is so easy to take your loved ones for granted. And I hope you all know how much you mean to me!!! This Valentine's Day would have been a lot harder without all your kind words and support! And thanks for taking the time to read this crazy blog!!