Cayenne Pepper Taffy

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This recipe, developed at Yale, has haad much success but is currently not FDA approved.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 2/3 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

Butter a square 8x8x2 pan, and set aside. In a 2-quart sauce pan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water, cornstarch, butter and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, to 265 degrees on a candy thermometer (or until small amounts of the mixture dropped into very cold water forms a hard ball). Remove from the heat; stir in the vanilla and cayenne pepper, and pour into the greased pan.

When the taffy is just cool enough to handle, pull the taffy until it is satiny, light in color, and stiff. If the taffy becomes sticky, butter your hands lightly. Pull into long strips, 1/2 inch wide. Cut the strips into 1-inch pieces. Wrap the pieces individually in waxed paper, and store them in an airtight container.

For Influenza and Sore Throat

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This recipe is found in Medicinal Plants of the West Indies by Edward S. Ayensu.

Ingredients

•    2 tablespoons small red peppers or 3 cayenne peppers
•    2 tablespoons fine salt
•    1 cup boiling water
•    1 cup very sharp vinegar

Instructions

Beat the peppers and the salt together into a paste and infuse this in the boiling water. Strain. When the mixture has cooled, add the vinegar.

Sore Throat Remedy

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Make brews to tasteas strong as possible, but not too sweet.

Ingredients

salt, lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper, clove.

Instructions

The Nasty Tea

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“This recipe was handed down from a singer who swears she has stopped numerous sore throats by drinking this tea regularly upon any hint of a cold,” says Brenda Roes of Glendale, California. “I’ve since added to it, and it has helped me combat the winter nasties. It tastes horrible.”

Ingredients

3 cups water

10 teaspoons cayenne pepper

3 cloves crushed garlic

3 tablespoons honey

3 lemons

3 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely chopped

Instructions

Brew all the ingredients together. Squeeze the juice from the lemons, but leave the rinds floating in the tea. While simmering, put your face directly over the steam and inhale. Sip the tea and make a horrible face. Repeat as often as necessary.

For Fever

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“This recipe was given to me by a Hawaiian acquaintance,” says Norma Kalina of Van Nuys, California.

Ingredients

  • ginger root
  • water
  • cayenne
  • honey
  • lemon

Instructions

Take one thumb-size piece of ginger root, washed and peeled, and boil it in a cup or so of water for two or three minutes.

Add a pinch of cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon honey and the juice from half a lemon. Drink as hot as possible, as quickly as possible.