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1. Mix together sugar and cornstarch in the saucepan.
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2. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the corn syrup, glycerin, water, butter, and salt. Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.
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3. Continue stirring until mixture begins to boil, then let cook, undisturbed, until it reaches about 270u00b0 F or the soft-crack stage. Wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in warm water while the syrup cooks.
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3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add food coloring and flavoring. Stir gently, then pour onto a greased marble slab or into a shallow greased cookie sheet to cool.
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4. When the taffy is cool enough to handle, grease your hands with oil or butter and pull the taffy until it's light in color and has a satiny gloss. You can have a friend help with this step, which should take about 10 minutes.
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5. Roll the pulled taffy into a long rope, about 1/2 inch in diameter, and cut it with greased scissors or a butter knife into 1-inch-long pieces. Let the pieces sit for about half an hour before wrapping them in wax paper or plastic wrap and twisting the ends of the wrapper.
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Try leaving out the corn syrup and see what happens! When we tried this, we ended up with a crystallized candy with a melt-in-your-mouth texture very similar to after-dinner mints.
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Try not pulling some of the taffy-what is the texture of the resulting candy?
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Try adding 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda before pouring out the syrup. This will create many tiny bubbles that should result in a lighter, chewier texture.
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Try twisting together taffy ropes of different colors or flavors for fun new combinations.
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Special thanks too: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/index.html
