Question about Greweling Saltwater Taffy

[minas6907]

Hey Everyone!

I'm new here, I got pointed here after many google searches concerning homemade confections, then I realized that the members on this board were quite serious about what they talked about, so glad to be here!

Anyways, I had a few questions about Peter Greweling's Saltwater Taffy recipe. I just got Chocolates and Confections, and it really is an amazing book, I was really blown away by it. Basically all my cookbooks are textbooks, and I've seen that they've (for me anyways) been some of the best resources, so naturally I was shocked when I realized a textbook existed exclusively on the topic of candies. For a few years out of high school, I was a line cook at a local french restaurant, so I'm very familiar with cuisine, but when I started reading about various confections, I felt like I was learning to cook all over again.

Anyways (again), specifically about the taffy recipe in C and C, Greweling calls for Frappe, but I was wondering if it would be ok if I left this out. I dont have it, and I'm not really interested in making it, its just not something I would have any use for except for this taffy recipe. So, can someone tell me, how big of an impact do you think it would have if I didn't include it? Does anyone have the Chocolates and Confections At Home? Does the recipe in that book also inculde frappe? I was thinking about picking up a copy, hoping the recipes would be slightly more user friendly (such as the 'thin boiling starch' required for his turkish delights). I should add that I really just want to make somewhat decent candies to just give to my friends, I'm not looking for absolute perfection.

All in all, I was wondering if the impact would be huge if I left out the frappe. Also, is the sweetened condensed milk a requirement? Could I substitute fresh milk? What would the impact be?

Thanks for any help :-)

[Kerry Beal]

If you have marshmallow fluff - use that to replace frappe. Sweetened condensed would be necessary for this particular recipe - others might use fresh.

Oh yeah - and welcome to eG!

Edited February 26, 2011 by Kerry Beal (log)

[curls]

The At Home recipes do use ingredients that you are more likely to find at home (marshmallow fluff instead of frappe, corn syrup instead of glucose, etc.). There is some recipe overlap but there are quite a few new recipes and different variations in the At Home book.

Edited February 26, 2011 by curls (log)

[minas6907]

Sweetened condensed would be necessary for this particular recipe - others might use fresh.

Thanks for both your replys! Kerry, I have seen you faq on chocolate, quite a bit of it was rather interesting, just wanted to say that. But not to bombard with too many q's, I take it that this formula needs the sweetened condensed milk, but are you able to tell me (or point me somewhere else) as to why it's used? What about it makes it a requirement? I guess I"m wondering why it was developed in the first place, its nothing I've ever used or had to use.

[Kerry Beal]

Sweetened condensed would be necessary for this particular recipe - others might use fresh.

Thanks for both your replys! Kerry, I have seen you faq on chocolate, quite a bit of it was rather interesting, just wanted to say that. But not to bombard with too many q's, I take it that this formula needs the sweetened condensed milk, but are you able to tell me (or point me somewhere else) as to why it's used? What about it makes it a requirement? I guess I"m wondering why it was developed in the first place, its nothing I've ever used or had to use.

Saves tons of time on the cooking down.