Taffy

Appears in

Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner

By Peter Greweling and Culinary Institute of America

Published 2007

About

Saltwater taffy became popular in the late nineteenth century. Molasses taffy was its predecessor and is known to have been made in colonial America. As the name implies, molasses taffy is a chewy pulled candy made and flavored with molasses, a form of flavorful sweetener available long before the flavorings used to make saltwater taffy. Molasses taffy is typically cooked to a higher temperature, resulting in a firmer candy than the softer, chewy saltwater taffy.

The name saltwater taffy is not a reference to ingredients—most taffy contains little or no salt—but is the result of an offhand remark that changed the name of the candy forever. As the story is often told, one David Bradley, a shop owner in Atlantic City in the late 1800s, was enjoying success selling taffy to tourists. When his shop was flooded by a storm, and ocean water damaged most of the store’s inventory, a young girl came in and asked if Bradley had any taffy for sale. Bradley is reputed to have replied sarcastically that he had only “saltwater taffy.” The name stuck. Whether or not the story is true, the confection is still a popular seashore treat.