On Food and Cooking

content than hard candies, a large proportion
of corn syrup, and the presence of milk casein
proteins. The characteristic caramel flavor
develops from the milk ingredients and
reactions between these and the syrup sugars
during the cooking. In Britain, butter for
toffee was often stored to develop some
rancidity (from free butyric acid), which
produced a desirably stronger dairy flavor in
the finished candy. (American chocolate
manufacturers have done much the same
thing; see box, p. 703). The higher the fat
content, the less these candies stick to the
teeth.
Caramels are cooked to the lowest
temperature of the noncrystalline candies,
have the highest moisture content, and are the
softest. Toffees and taffies contain less butter
and milk solids — taffies sometimes none at
all — and are cooked 50ºF hotter than
caramels, so they’re more firm. Taffies are
often pulled to produce an aerated, finely