- Home
>> Cooking:
Sweets
& Treats:
-
- 6 Tips for
Perfect Homemade Hard Candy
- by Vanessa Kirkland
There's nothing better than
the juicy, flavorful hard candy from your local gourmet candy
shop...unless you make it yourself, that is! Making perfect hard
candy at home is easier than you think. You just need the right
tools, a few simple ingredients, and your imagination.
Try these tips the next time
you want to make something special in the kitchen. Your family
will love it!
1. Stock up on basic candy
making tools.
You'll need a medium-size saucepan
(3 or 4 quarts) with a heavy bottom and straight sides.
You'll also need a long-handled
wooden spoon, a pastry brush (used to brush off any crystals
that might form), and a good candy thermometer with a metal clamp
that attaches to the side of your saucepan.
2. Get the weather forecast.
Did you know that humidity
has an enormous effect on the outcome of your hard candy? Because
sugar attracts water, rainy days can wreak havoc on even your
best attempts at homemade delicacies. Make it easier on yourselfwait
for a clear, dry day to try out your recipes.
3. Test your thermometer.
Test your thermometer by placing
it in a pan of water and bringing it to the boiling point. It
should now register 212 degrees at sea level. If it registers
214 degrees, you can correct it by adding two degrees to those
given in the recipe; if 210 degrees, by subtracting. If it's
more than a few degrees off in either direction, you need a new
thermometer.
4. Use fresh ingredients.
Sugar is the most basic ingredient
in hard candy. Be sure to use a new package of sugar each time
you make your recipes to ensure that the sugar hasn't been contaminated
by other common kitchen ingredients.
If your recipe calls for butter,
be sure to use the unsalted variety. Salted butter and margarine
can adversely effect the cooking time, texture, and taste of
your efforts.
5. Go easy on the food coloring.
Colors like green and yellow
look much more appetizing when they're applied lightly, so be
sure to add food coloring gradually. You can slowly add more
until you reach the intensity you want.
6. Use the proper storage techniques.
After cooling your candies,
store them in air tight jars without wrapping them first. Never
store hard candy in the same container as desserts that lose
moisture, such as fudge.
Ready to begin? Try this basic
hard candy recipe-and have fun!
BASIC HARD CANDY RECIPE
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup light corn syrup
Flavorings and colorings to taste (just a few drops will do)
Measure 2 cups sugar, 2/3 cup
light corn syrup and 3/4 cup water into a saucepan and blend
together. Place over low heat and stir until mixture boils. Cover
the saucepan for 5 minutes so that any sugar crystals that have
formed on the sides of the pan will be washed down. Now put in
the candy thermometer and let the candy boil without stirring.
Using a pastry brush or a fork wrapped with muslin and dipped
in water, wash off any crystals that might form. After the candy
reaches 280 degrees, lower heat so as not to discolor the candy.
When candy thermometer registers 300 degrees, remove pan from
the heat and allow it to stand until all the bubbles have simmered
down. Then add the flavoring and coloring. There are many to
choose from but one favorite is anise along with red coloring.
One teaspoon of a flavoring extract should be used for this recipe,
while only a few drops of an oil such as peppermint, wintergreen
or cinnamon are enough. Coloring should be added gradually until
the desired intensity is reached. It is important to stir these
in as gently as possible. Too much stirring will cause the syrup
to solidify into a hard sugary lump. Now the candy is ready to
be formed. It may be poured into a pan, 7 by 7 inches, and marked
into squares as it begins to harden. Or it may be poured in rounds
on skewers or sticks to form lollipops.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vanessa Kirkland is publisher
of the cherished recipe collection, "Candymaking Secrets,"
by Virginia Pasley. This long-lost collection includes 67 vintage
recipes for making delicious old-fashioned candies at home without
a single cooking class.
Find out more at http://www.CandyMakingSecrets.com/
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
- _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
POSTED: February 09, 2006
|