Step back in time, before candy stores existed. Long before video games and board games were available, families came together to create their own fun, and taffy pulling was one such activity all shared in.
Why not host an old fashion taffy pull and candy sale as a school fundraiser event? Get other classes involved. Select a day which doesn’t interfere with school or school related activities and convene at a pre-selected place.
The school cafeteria is a great locale to hold your taffy pull. Once you get the okay send out fliers announcing the date and time of the sale. Set up two teams for the fundraiser, those making the taffy and those selling the taffy.
Focus in getting local grocery stores to donate the needed supplies to make the taffy. They love supporting school activities, especially when they are recognized for their support. Candy stores might also be willing to send a few bottles of flavoring your way, or maybe you could even get an expert to volunteer their time!
Your list of needs for the taffy (using the recipe below) would include:
* Sugar
* Butter
* Food coloring
* Whipping Cream
* Corn Syrup
* Salt
* Vinegar
* Baggies for the candy and tie wrappers
* Vanilla and other flavorings
A few tips to consider are:
1. Make sure your hands are coated with butter before you begin pulling the taffy so it doesn’t stick. You can use surgical gloves rubber banded at the wrist and then buttered if you wish.
2. It usually takes about twenty minutes of pulling time for the taffy to reach the texture it needs to be eatable. For an extra fee, customers can help pull! Have hand sanitizer or extra plastic gloves available.
3. Add different flavored oils with different food colorings to create different types of taffy. A good example of this would be adding a few drops of peppermint oil into the taffy as well as a few drops of red food coloring while pulling.
Now that you have the event planned, do a practice run. A great taffy recipe is included at the bottom of this article. Doing a run through ensures all goes smoothly on the big day! It also gives you some pre-made candy to package for early birds.
Decide on how many pieces to add to each bag, (probably 10 to 15 pieces) would be a fair amount. Next decide on the price to ask. Anything from $5.00 to $8.00 is a good starting point.
Taffy Recipe
7 1/2 cups Sugar
5 5/8 cups Corn Syrup
1 teaspoon Salt
3 3/4 tablespoons Vinegar
3 3/4 teaspoons Vanilla
1 7/8 cup Whipping Cream
Butter
Powdered Sugar
Directions:
Cook ingredients in very large pot over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add whipping cream to mixture and cook to firm ball stage.
Pour onto a buttered waxed paper covering the tabletops, and cool until cool enough to handle.
Butter hands and pull taffy until it loses its glossy color. Add in coloring and flavoring to different batches. Roll onto long strings, cut with scissors and dust with powdered sugar. Wrap in pieces of wax paper.
