Chapter 36 · Sugar work and chocolate
36.1 Candies: amorphous and crystalline
Why sugar forms crystals, and what stops it, is explained earlier. Here the question is how to make each kind of candy. see chapter 7: Sugar
Two families
- peanut brittle
- caramels
- hard candy
- English toffee
- butterscotch
Crystalline candies keep crystals, but tiny ones, so the candy feels smooth. These belong here:
- chocolate fudge
- white fudge
- penuche
- pralines
Whether the crystals stay small or grow large decides if the candy is smooth or grainy.
Common interfering agents in candy include:
- butter
- corn syrup
- milk
- brown sugar
- half-and-half
Check the thermometer first
A candy thermometer that reads wrong will ruin a batch, so test it before you start. see chapter 3: Thermometers
- Stand the stem in boiling water, 2.5 inches deep, for 2 minutes.
- It should read 100°C (212°F).
- If it reads higher or lower, add or take away that difference from every reading you make that day.
- A thermometer that is off by more than 1°C (3°F) should not be used at all.
The cold water test
The second check needs no tool. Drop a little hot syrup into cold water and watch what it does. Each stage has a name:
| Temperature | Stage | What the syrup does in cold water |
|---|---|---|
| 112–115°C (234–240°F) | Soft ball | Makes a ball that flattens once you lift it out |
| 118–120°C (244–248°F) | Firm ball | Makes a ball that keeps its shape out of the water |
| 132–143°C (270–290°F) | Soft crack | Breaks into threads that crack when you touch them |
| 149–154°C (300–310°F) | Hard crack | Breaks into fine threads that are brittle |
Use both checks together: read the thermometer, and confirm with the water.
Amorphous candies and their end points
Each amorphous candy has its own end point, the temperature at which it comes off the heat:
| Candy | Main ingredients | End point |
|---|---|---|
| Caramels | Sugar, dark corn syrup, butter, half-and-half, vanilla | Firm ball, 118°C (245°F) |
| Butterscotch | Brown sugar, light corn syrup, butter, water, salt | Soft crack, 142°C (288°F) |
| Hard candy | Sugar, light corn syrup, water, salt, oil flavoring, coloring | 144°C (290°F) |
| English toffee | Sugar, butter, water, almonds, chocolate on top | 137°C (280°F) to add the nuts, then hard crack, 152°C (305°F) |
| Peanut brittle | Sugar, light corn syrup, water, raw Spanish peanuts, salt, butter, baking soda | Soft ball, 112°C (234°F) to add the nuts, then hard crack, 154°C (309°F) |
Some steps in these recipes need care:
- Butter the pan or sheet first. Every one of these candies is poured out the moment it is done, onto a buttered sheet or into a buttered pan. There is no time to get one ready afterwards.
- Caramels can scorch. Bring them to the boil over low heat while you stir, add the rest of the half-and-half slowly, and stir again near the end. Scald the half-and-half first by heating it to 92°C for 1 minute. Mark the squares while the caramel is cooling, and cut it once it is cold.
- Brittle foams. Once the peanut syrup reaches hard crack, stir in the butter and baking soda only until they are mixed. The candy will bubble up. Pour it out, lift the edges with a spatula so it does not stick, and pull it thin while it is still warm. Break it into pieces when cool.
- Toffee gets its chocolate last. Pour the toffee out, let it go cold, then spread chocolate melted over a double boiler on top. Break it up once the chocolate has set.
- Hard candy is flavored off the heat. At 144°C (290°F), stir in the coloring and a few drops of an oil flavoring such as anise, cinnamon or wintergreen, then pour.
Crystalline candies: cool first, then beat
Fudge and its cousins share one method, and its order matters.
- Stir the sugar and milk over the heat only until the sugar has dissolved.
- Boil the syrup, with no lid, over medium heat to the soft ball stage.
- Take the pan off the heat and drop in the butter. Leave it alone; do not stir.
- Let it cool, still untouched, until it is lukewarm. For chocolate fudge that is 43°C.
- Add the vanilla and beat hard. Stop when the candy has thickened and the shine starts to fade.
- Pour it into a buttered 6-inch square pan, score it into squares, and cut when firm.
The end points are close together, all at soft ball:
| Candy | What makes it different | End point |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate fudge | Unsweetened chocolate and a little corn syrup in the syrup | 112°C (234°F) |
| White fudge | No chocolate; a little light corn syrup | 113.5°C (236°F) |
| Penuche | Brown sugar in place of white | 114°C (237°F) |
| Pralines | White and brown sugar with half-and-half; pecan halves | 114°C |
Pralines break the pattern at the end. Cool them undisturbed to 65°C, stir in the pecans, and beat for about 3 minutes, only until the candy begins to thicken. It should still be shiny. Spoon it onto waxed paper.
What good candy looks like
A good crystalline candy meets several marks.
- Color: what you expect for its kind.
- Surface: a satin sheen on top.
- Texture: fudge and penuche are very fine and evenly smooth; pralines are meant to be grainy.
- Cut: each one holds a clean edge.
- Feel: soft but not sticky at room temperature.
- Flavor: sweet and well blended.
Set some of every batch aside and look at it again later. Storage changes candy, so judge each one both fresh and after it has been kept.
Sources
This chapter is written from these open textbooks:
- Basic Scientific Food Preparation Lab Manual — Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State UniversityCC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- The Chemistry of Cooking — Sorangel Rodriguez-Velazquez, LibreTextsCC BY-NC-SA 4.0