Annual Hard Candy Making Episode

One tradition that my sister is bound and determined to recreate every year is making hard candy. My mom used to do this with her friend Betty each year. I remember them doing it late after we went to bed but my memory is sometimes flawed. They would make watermelon, cherry, lime, cinnamon and other flavors. The candy was perfectly shaped into pillows coated with powdered sugar. A great part of Christmas.

We have never had much luck at this but we do have fun. Last night we got together at my house to work on it. NOW, (that I am still walking on hard candy shards on my kitchen floor despite having swept thrice) I know why she wanted it to be at my house.

The first batch did caramelize a bit. That's a polite way of saying it tasted a little burnt. It was a light brown so we decided to flavor it cinnamon. I stirred in the flavoring and dumped it onto my counter. We let it cool and ended up what looked like an oval brown piece of glass FUSED to my counter top. Using knives, two screwdrivers, a hammer and lots of hot water we finally got it all off.

[Nathan got a rise out of Kevin when he passed on the news as they drove to foot skills later that night. "OUR kitchen counter???"]

The second batch didn't burn but the plastic spoon did melt into it. I was able to take out the larger plastic pieces and we flavored this one with strawberry. I graciously let my sister take this entire batch home. I don't think it quite reached 310 degrees because it was a bit stringy.

The third batch definitely caramelized. We just threw that batch down the drain. Probably not smart.

Dawn was finally prepared to throw in the towel at this point but I gave it another go. I measured all the ingredients perfectly. I didn't take my eyes off the thermometer except to have a quick phone conversation with Kevin about mixtures, boiling point and heat transfer. After it reached 310, I dumped in one teaspoon of flavoring, mixed it, and dumped it onto a greased broiling pan. I covered it with powdered sugar. After the edges cooled, I sliced into it with a pair of greased scissors.

This batch came out something like what I remember. I wonder if it was ever this hard for my mom. After googling "hard candy tips", I think I can give you the best of the information I found:

"Experience is the best teacher"