Green Tomato Taffy

by Elizabeth
(Upstate New York)

Question about Green Tomato Taffy...

Now that I have your attention, here's my problem. :)


I was overwhelmed with a huge harvest of green tomatoes this fall, and wanted something other than fried green tomatoes.


I found a recipe for green tomato jam, which I made and poured into small jelly glasses for gift giving this year.


Well, much to my surprise, I don't have containers of tomato jam; I've got jelly jars of soft candy - very tasty candy!


I'd like to "save" my project and create taffy sized pieces, but how do I get the mass out of the glass jars and able to spread out for cutting?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

PS. Here's the recipe for the green tomato jam that turned into green tomato taffy.

Rustic Italian Green-Tomato Jam

• 1 1/2 cups – 2 pounds green tomatoes (preferably organic), cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (keep the juice and seeds)
  
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
  
• 2 medium lemons
  
• Pinch of salt
  
• Generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  
• 3-inch cinnamon stick, broken

1. In a glass or china bowl, toss together the tomatoes, their juice and seeds, and the sugar. Lightly cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 23 hours.
   
   
2. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking, and then turn mixture into a heavy 4-quart saucepan.
   
   
3. With a zester, shred yellow skins of both lemons into tomatoes. Trim and discard the white pith. Cut the lemon's flesh into
   small pieces, removing and discarding seeds. Stir into the tomatoes with remaining ingredients.
   
   
4. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes, or until mixture reaches 210 degrees on a candy thermometer. Spoon some of the mixture onto a chilled plate to test, if desired. Don't overcook.
   
   
5. Pour jam into a bowl or jam jars to cool.

Because of its low sugar content, this green tomato jam must be refrigerated. It will keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator and freeze up to 6 months. Jam is best served at room temperature.

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Hi Elizabeth,

It sounds like perhaps your jam overcooked and that's how you ended up with green tomato taffy. :)


My suggestion for "saving" your mistake and making it a happy mistake is to place your jars of jam in a pot of water and bring to the boil.


This should hopefully cause your mixture to liquify again so that you can poor it out into a tray to cut up before it sets again. Just be really careful not to burn yourself - hot candy is really hot! :) You may even want to butter your hands before trying to handle the taffy.


Let me know if this works out for you. Thanks for sharing this interesting recipe. Who would have thought that you could make green tomato taffy? Mistake or not, what a great way to use those extra green tomatoes!