This easy recipe from the God of Fail-Free Gelatin is sure to delight children all over the world – the beautiful candy cakes are the essential gift for your Easter vacation! They are also lovely for baby showers.
Ingredients
3 cups of granulated sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon of salt
2 egg whites at room temperature
3 tablespoons of powdered gelatin of your choice.
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or other flavor Use clear vanilla extract.
1 cup of chopped nuts optional (I almost always use nuts)
Instructions
Place 2 large baking sheets with wax paper on the line. Put butter in two large spoons and set them aside.
In a 3-quart saucepan, bring the sugar, corn syrup, water and salt to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.
Once it boils, stop stirring and cook to 250F – hard ball stage. To do this, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pot. This candy thermometer will sound when the correct temperature is reached. Does not fail 🙂
As the mixture rises in temperature, beat the egg whites at high speed in a high power mixer until very stiff peaks form.
Beat the gelatin until well mixed.
Once the syrup has reached 250F, remove from heat.
Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and carefully and slowly pour the syrup into the egg white and gelatin mixture. So slowly, it should take a good 2 minutes to pour it all in.
Add the vanilla extract.
Now it is time to let the mixer work. Continue beating until the mixture loses its shine and maintains its shape when dropped from a spoon. You will notice that it starts to look more and more sticky. This takes about 4-6 minutes normally.
It is absolutely fine to stop the mixer and test the mixture. If you drop the candy and it looks like a puddle on the wax paper, keep beating for another minute or two and try again. When it stays in shape, it is ready.
At this point, mix the nuts.
Take a teaspoon or tablespoon of the mixture once and use the other spoon to scrape the candy from the spoon. Make sure your spoons are buttered or the caramel will stick. It is NOT necessary to butter them more than once.
Once all the candy has been dropped, let it cool on the wax paper.
Let the candies run for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, before storing them in an airtight container. These candies also work quite well outdoors – they are not sticky 🙂