Candy
Making Made Easy
By Shauna Belknap and Jamie Melin, staff writers
‘Tis
the season to eat sweets: Yu yu yu yu YUM, YuYumYumYum. But
baking those seasonal confections can be daunting. If you’re
like me you go through 5 batches of popcorn and caramel before
deciding it’s time to invest in a candy thermometer.
But this holiday is no time to burn (literally) precious days
away trying to get the candy just right. So here are 5 candy-making
tips and great family recipes for everything from Tootsie
Rolls to Peanut Brittle that will truly make this Christmas
season sweet for you and your family.
Good
luck with your holiday goodies and remember that every candy-making
expert started somewhere (even if it was at the bottom of
a burned pan). So take heart, pick one of our simple candy
recipes and start cooking. You’ll be sweetly surprised
at just how easy it can be.
BASIC
HARD CANDY
2-1/4
cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon flavoring (oil of cinnamon, peppermint,
orange, clove, etc.)
food coloring
Line an
8” or 9 “ square baking pan with foil
(fold foil over edges of pan) and grease the foil.
In a 2-quart
saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook
and stir over high heat until mixture boils. Clip
a candy thermometer to side of pan.
Continue
cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until
thermometer registers 300 degrees F (hard-crack stage).
Remove the thermometer from the pan; remove the pan
from heat. Add the desired flavoring and coloring.and
pour mixture into prepared pan. Let the candy stand
for 5 to 10 minutes or until a film forms over the
surface.
Using a broad spatula, mark candy surface in 1/2-inch
squares. Do not break film on surface. (If candy doesn't
hold its shape, it isn't cool enough to mark. Let
stand a few more minutes.)
Retrace
previous lines, pressing spatula deeper each time,
but not breaking the surface until the spatula can
be pressed to the bottom along all lines. (If candy
hardens before the pieces are cut, put it in a warm
oven for a few minutes.)
Cool completely.
Use foil to lift the candy out of the pan; break candy
into squares
Makes 1 pound candy.
This
recipe can also be used with molds to make candy shapes
or lollipops.
Recipe from Annie Woodward.
MICROWAVE
FUDGE
2
cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine
5 ounce can evaporated milk
1 cup chocolate chips (either semi-sweet or
milk chocolate)
7 ounce jar of Marshmallow crème
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
Mix
sugar, margarine and milk in microwave safe mixing
bowl and microwave for 5 minutes.
Stir in chocolate chips, marshmallow crème,
vanilla and nuts.
Microwave mixture in high for 2-1/2 minutes; stir;
microwave for 2-1/2 more minutes and stir again.
Pour
mixture into a greased 8” square pan and allow
to cool completely. Cut into squares.
*Note-if
fudge turns out too sticky, try coating pieces in
powdered sugar or even cinnamon sugar before serving
or packaging them—it’ll still taste great
and be easier to eat.
Recipe
taken from a long-ago student ward Enrichment hand
out
PEPPERMINT
WHITE CHOCOLATE BARK
1
package white almond bark
4-6 candy canes
Melt
bark in large saucepan on low. Place candy canes
in ziplock bag and crush to small pieces with
rolling pin. Once bark has melted remove from
heat and stir in candy cane pieces.
Spread
mixture on wax paper, cool and break.
Recipe
from Rhonda Barnes, Lewiston, ID Stake
ALMOND CRUNCH
6
squares of white chocolate
1 cup toffee bits
1 cup whole roasted almonds
Melt
chocolate over low heat. Stir in toffee bits
and almonds. Spread on waxed paper and cool.
Break into chunks and serve or package.
A
Melin Family Favorite
PEANUT
BRITTLE
1-1/2
cup white sugar
2/3 cup white corn syrup
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoon butter
2 cups raw peanuts
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Put water, syrup, & sugar in a heavy kettle. Bring
to a boil for 12 minutes. Add butter and peanuts.
Bring to boil, still constantly and boil for 10-12
minutes or until golden brown. Remove quickly from
heat and add salt, vanilla and baking soda. Stir quickly
and turn out onto buttered cookie sheet. Cool and
break.
Recipe
from Rhonda Barnes, Lewiston, ID Stake
MICROWAVE
PEANUT BRITTLE
1
cup sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup peanuts
1 teaspoon margarine
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix
sugar, corn syrup, and salt, cook in microwave for
about 4 minutes, or just until amber colored. Remove
from oven (it's very hot, be very careful) and add
peanuts, cook about l to 2 minutes more, remove from
oven add the margarine, baking soda, and vanilla all
at once, and mix thoroughly, spread on a cookie sheet
that has been greased. Cool, then break into pieces
and put in jar, with tight fitting lid.
Recipe from Diana Rattray.
HONEY
TAFFY
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon vinegar
Mix
ingredients in saucepan over medium heat. Stir til
soft ball stage, then remove from heat and pull. Wrap
pieces in small squares of waxed paper for serving
or storage.
Recipe from the Jeffrey Family.
TOOTSIE
ROLLS
2
cups butter
1/2 cup white Karo syrup
1/3 cup white sugar
2 squares melted chocolate-use squares
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup dry milk
Mix
and knead. Roll out into 3/4 inch rolls, cut off lengths.
Let stand and then roll into paper.
Recipe
from Rhonda Barnes, Lewiston, ID Stake
COOL
WHIP CANDY
2
large Hershey bars or 1 lb. chocolate
9 oz. frozen Cool Whip
Chopped nuts or flaked coconut
Melt
chocolate in double boiler. Put Cool Whip in a bowl
and pour in melted chocolate. Stir well and drop in
chopped nuts or coconut. Roll. Set in refrigerator.
Recipe
from Rhonda Barnes, Lewiston, ID Stake
Candy
Making
Made Easy:
Sweet Survival Tips
1.
Ingredients
Sugar:
Without sugar there would be no candy, so you need
to get this magic ingredient just right. Start with a bag
of unopened sugar. The sugar from your counter canister
has probably been contaminated with other ingredients like
flour and salt.
Butter:
While you can substitute margarine for butter in
many recipes, it’s safest to use butter when making
candy. The extra water in margarine can throw off your baking
times and compromise the taste of your favorite sweets.
Nuts:
Store nuts in a cool place (fridge or freezer) to maintain
freshness.
Vanilla:
When working with chocolate a drop of vanilla extract eliminates
graininess and adds to the flavor.
Double-Batches:
Using double the ingredients can throw off cooking times
and candy setup. If you want twice the candy, make two separates
batches.
2.
Cookware
A saucepan with straight sides and a heavy bottom will empower
the candy-making novice. Make sure it’s large enough
to prevent boil-overs and can double as the bottom half of
a double-boiler when making chocolate.
The best
utensil for working with candy is the wooden spoon. Not only
will it prevent sticking, but the wood will not contaminate
the taste of your goodies.
And while
you can use the cold water test to determine temperature,
a good candy thermometer can make the candy making process
easier.
3.
Temperatures
Getting the temperature right is often the thing that most
frightens the faint of candy-making heart. Those of us who
aren’t confectionary experts begin twitching at first
mention of soft-ball or hard-crack temperature testing. But
the preciseness of temperature is very important in candy
making, so take courage and either buy a thermometer or get
those classes of temperature-testing water ready.
Soft
Ball - (fudge)
234°F to 240°F
Forms a ball that doesn’t retain its shape when pressed
Firm
Ball - (caramel)
246°F to 248°F
Forms a ball that retains its shape when pressed
Hard
Ball - (taffy)
250°F to 268°F
Forms a pliable ball
Soft
Crack - (toffee)
270°F
to 290°F
Separates into small hard threads
Hard
Crack - (peanut brittle)
300°F to 310°F
Separates into small brittle threads
Note
to thermometer users:
Test your thermometer before each use by inserting into a
pan of water. Heat the water until it boils (do not insert
thermometer into an already boiling pan of water; it may break)
and note the thermometer’s temperature; it should read
212°F (100°C). If the thermometer does not read 212°F
you must note the difference as you heat your candy. For example,
if your thermometer reads 215°F when the water boils you
will need to note that 3-degree difference when heating your
candy to a thread, waiting until your thermometer reads 233°F
rather than 230°F. Also, do not let the thermometer’s
bulb touch the sides or the bottom of the pan as this will
make for an inaccurate reading of the candy.
Note
to water testers: Use very cold water when you test,
and use a new glass of water each time your test. (from
“Visions
of Sugar Plums”)
4. Preparations
When working with such high temperatures and against time
constraints it’s crucial to have everything you will
need at hand. Before you turn on your first burner gather
all necessary items so they will be within reach: ingredients,
thermometers, spoons, bowels, wax paper, pans, etc.
5.
And, yes, the Weather
It’s best to make candy when the weather is cool and
dry. Often when the weather is humid or raining, the candy
will be too soft or may not set up at all. The cool weather
promotes that hardening and decreases chances of the candy
forming unwanted crystals (if you must cook in a humid environment,
cook candy 1 or 2 degrees higher than specified in the recipe).
A note
to the altitudinally challenged: Lower the temperature by
one degree for every 500 feet above sea level. So if, for
example, you live 1500 hundred feet above sea level and are
making a candy that requires a temperature of 234°F, you
should cook it to 231°F.
