Just like most robots, Rodney has an appreciation for the arts.

So when it came down to picking his favourite cookbook (and mine, for that matter) he chose this cookbook solely because the illustrations inside are done by Andy Warhol.

It just happened to be a complete fluke that the recipes inside were pretty damn good.

When the label on the front said “complete” Rodney and I both assumed that it meant “as complete as the author felt it should be, and they really didnt think about it much at all” Just like most cookbooks. I have plenty of “complete” cookbooks, but none of them are anything like what I would consider “complete”

This one however, totally takes the cake. This book has EVERYTHING that I can think of. Its amazing. Its also old, so instead of having ingredients like “prepared puff pastry” it actually refers you to another page where it tells you how to make puff pastrneverbashfulwithbutter.comhttp://www.neverbashfulwithbutter.comy. There is no mention of anything premade. Everything in this book is from scratch, and with whole and pure ingredients. Its awesome.

Originally Rodney and I were going to make Cream taffy…

But the last sentence of the directions frightened Rodney, as he has no “men friends” and thought it awkward to mention such things in the directions for a candy.

We picked out a recipe for honey taffy. Not only was it simple, but it looked tasty, and I happened to have all the ingredients in my pantry, so I didnt have to make a special trip to the store, which is a bonus. Plus, I’d never made taffy past the “pour it on your girl scout enemies stage” (dont ask) so.. I figured it would be a learning experience…

However, Rodney got a little sleepy, so he slept through the creation process. Good thing too.. I stood infront of the stove stirring the mixture for a good hour trying to get it perfect.

Finally I succeeded, and after mixing, heating, stirring, kneading, pulling and cutting the taffy, I wrapped it up in little waxed paper squares.

…Around which time Rodney decided to join me. I felt a little like little red hen, Rodney only wanted to be around when the taffy was made, he didnt want to help with any of the process.. but I figured hey, he’s a little robot.. he’d probably mess it up anyways.

Closeup!

Wanna bite?

Hey Rodney, where’d your candy go?

hahaha…

Seriously though, this taffy was pretty good. I dont think I’ll make it again though. I’ll probably attempt another type of taffy. There was just something about the overwhelming honey flavour that made my mouth water.. and keep watering.. and water so bad that it actually affected my ability to chew. A mouth full of saliva isnt exactly a good thing sometimes.

Anyways… Taffy pulling isnt too hard either. The whole key in any sort of candy making is to get the cooked mixture to the correct temperature before removing it from the heat. I added a little lemon extract to the mixture. When you’re making taffy its best to add the extract after you’re finished cooking and while you’re kneading. That way the flavour isnt able to burn off like it would had you poured it into the pot. Another tip… when pulling taffy, wear some sort of latex or vinyl powder free gloves. Just put them on and spray them down with a little cooking oil, and you will feel a little heat (because you’ve got to pull the taffy when its still hot) but at least you’ll have finger prints when you’re done. I was sort of doubting whether or not I’d have any after playing with the taffy all morning. My hands were beet red for a good hour afterwards. They’re all better now.

I imagine you could make this with some sort of Tea instead of the added water (I wish I would have thought of that last night, I would have done it myself!) and you’d make yourself some pretty awesome homemade cough drops.

So there you have it. Rodney and the honey taffy.

Taken from “Amy Vanderbilt’s complete cookbook”

1 Cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 Teaspoon salt
2/3 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup water
2 teaspoons Lemon or Vanilla extract

Mix together the sugar, salt and cornstarch in a large high sided pot. When combined, turn the heat up to medium high and add the water and honey. Boil over medium high heat until the mixture reaches 265 degrees or forms a hard heavy strand when dropped into a glass of cold water.

Remove from the heat. Grease a silicone baking pan or a glass platter. Let the taffy sit for about 20 minutes, until cool enough to touch. Pour the flavouring extract over the mixture. Knead the extract into the taffy, lifting the sides and bringing them up and over the center.

With greased hands, begin kneading and pulling the taffy. Continue doing this until the mixture looks milky and turns a light caramel colour. Finally pull the taffy into a long strip and cut into 1″ long pieces with a pair of greased kitchen shears. Let cool on waxed paper or wrap in squares of waxed paper.

The flavour settles in over 24 hours. The taffy will be much harder than commercial “salt water” taffy, but it softens enough to be chewable after a few minutes in your mouth.

I liked it, I just think it made my mouth water too much.

If you’re a fan of honey, or you’re looking for a nice old fashioned treat, Give this recipe a try.

-A.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 2:47 pm and is filed under March 2007, The Adventures of Rodney Robot. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.