Angel Food Candy

As I'm writing this. it's late November. There are mustaches everywhere and it's almost time for all of us to attempt to eat our weight in turkey and pumpkin pie.

This year, I'll be heading about four and a half hours north to dine with my wife's side of the family. They always get the whole gang together for a huge thanksgiving dinner up north, watch the packer game, and munch into the evening on leftover turkey sandwiches and the bajillion pumpkin pies grandma makes ever year. Can there really ever be "enough" pumpkin pie on thanksgiving? I don't think so... 

We didn't get to go last year because my wife and I both had to work. It came to my attention that in my absence that people missed the homemade candy I'd been in the habit of bringing, so this year I'm going all out. I'll be making a batch of my Glazed Peanut Butter Bars, two kinds of caramel, and a batch of this angel food candy (or fairy food, depending on where you're from). I'll be posting the rest of these recipes as soon as I get a chance to write them up. 

Making this recipe is very, very simple. All that is needed is a few basic ingredients, a working knowledge of third grade science, and some patience. 

This is a recipe, like many sugar based candies,  that is extremely dependent on accurate temperature reading. You cannot successfully prepare this dish without a candy thermometer. Luckily, one of those can be had at most mega marts for a few dollars... I got mine at a Wal-Mart for around three bucks. Click here to check out my page on cooking sugar for a bit more information.

Start out with the sugar, dark corn syrup, and vinegar in a sauce pan that is way too big for what's in there now.

Pardon the old pics - I forgot to take pics of the
beginning of this recipe.

Heat the mixture over medium heat, and stir just until the sugar is dissolved. Once that is done, attach your candy thermometer to the side of the pan, and kick back a bit. You may need to turn up the heat on your stove (especially if using an electric range) in order to reach our desired temperature of 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Try to avoid stirring, but if anything smells even remotely like it's burning, go ahead and stir the bottom of the pot.

When you cross the 290 degree mark, make sure that the 9x13 pan is lined and ready to go, and also that you have the baking soda ready to be added. I like to measure mine into a shot glass because it's easy and fast.

At this temperature, the mixture is very dark
and boiling rapidly

The next step in this process is impossible to take pictures of without a second person handy for the camera work. Don't worry though, it's really simple.

The instant that thermometer passes the 300 degree mark, remove the pan from heat. Quickly sprinkle in the baking soda, and it will react with the vinegar already in the pan - not unlike those awesome volcanoes in third grade. Stir the baking soda in thoroughly, and the mixture will very quickly more than double in size, and turn a light tan yellowish brown color. 

As soon as the baking soda is mixed in, dump the candy into the prepared pan. Let it cool completely. 

The last old picture... The blob will not likely fill
the pan. 

As you can see in the picture above, I did not thoroughly mix in the baking soda, and you can see a couple nice deposits of white powder on the surface of the candy. If this happens, don't worry too much about it. Just discard the pieces with the baking soda after you break the batch in to pieces.

Once the mixture is cooled off and hardened, melt your dipping chocolate in a double boiler. If you do not have a double boiler, you can use a small sauce pan with a little simmering water in it, and a heat proof bowl as a double boiler. (Nerd bonus tip: this is called a Bain-Marie) Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not contact the water - only steam should be touching that bowl. 

My set up looks like this. The water is only
about an inch deep in the pan.

While the chocolate is melting, break apart the candy blob into bite sized pieces. You will end up with a bit of dust - I normally discard that. 

I broke it apart with a knife on my cutting board
and moved the serviceable pieces to a bowl.

From here, it's pretty self explanatory. Dip each piece of candy in chocolate, and shake off any excess. Pay close attention to getting a solid coat over the entire surface of the candy... With all the bubbles, sometimes there will be some exposed candy after the first dip. Having a solid coat of chocolate helps keep the candy from getting soft and gummy as it picks up moisture from the air.

Om nom nom nom 

Set the dipped candies on wax paper lined cookie sheets to dry. You can put them in the freezer to speed up the process if you like - it will not negatively effect the batch. 

Here's the full recipe!

Ingredients:

1 C Granulated White Sugar
1 C Dark Corn Syrup
1 T Baking Soda
1 T White Vinegar
2 T butter to grease pan
1.5 Pounds Ambrosia chocolate coating

Required hardware:

9x13 pan
Large heavy sauce pan
double boiler OR small sauce pan and stainless steel (or glass) bowl
Candy thermometer
Silicone (or other heatproof) spatula
Parchment paper to line the cooling pan

Small tongs, forks, or (my favorite) chopsticks for dipping

Waxed paper or aluminum foil

cookie sheets

Directions:

1. Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil
2. In a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, corn syrup and vinegar. Cook, stirring only until sugar dissolves. 
3. Continue heating, without stirring, to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
4. Remove from heat and quickly stir in baking soda. The mixture will change color and increase greatly in volume.
5. Pour into prepared pan; do not spread. Mixture probably will not fill pan. 
6. Allow to cool completely.
7. Over a double boiler, melt coating chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth. 
8. Break cooled candy into bite sized pieces and dip into melted candy coating. (I recommend using chop sticks or small tongs for this step)
9. Let set on waxed paper or aluminum foil. Store tightly covered.

Yield: between 2 and 2.25 pounds of dipped candy.