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Dessert

Sugar Taffy

A chewy candy made from sugar, vinegar, water, baking soda, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Sugar Taffy

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine sugar, vinegar, and water in a saucepan.

  2. Cook without stirring until nearly done.

  3. Dissolve baking soda in a little hot water and add to the mixture.

  4. Stir in the butter and mix well.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White sugar
Provides the sweetness and the bulk of the candy's structure as it cooks.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that helps keep the sugar from crystallising, giving a smoother texture.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid to release gas, lightening the taffy's texture.
Butter
Adds fat for a softer bite and richer flavour.

The step that matters

Cook without stirring until nearly done. Stirring a boiling sugar syrup can encourage crystals to form, which makes taffy grainy. Letting it cook undisturbed keeps the syrup smooth.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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