Divine Divinity

One of the best Christmas traditions is to  make Christmas candy with my mama.  We get out the kitchen aid mixer, the flour, the baking pans, the butter, lots of lots of sugar, and we create quite the culinary delights, from homemade caramels to sugar cookies.  But divinity has become one of my favourites.  We have been making divinity for about 5 years now and this year we finally perfected it.

I first tried divinity at my neighbor Kathy's house.  I was over helping her make Rosettes (another fancy Christmas cookie), and she asked if I would like to try her divinity.  I was blown away.  It was deliciously soft, sweet, and moist, almost like a marshmallow, but so much better.  Immediately I called my mama and said, we have to try this.  Mom knew all about divinity.  Her mom used to make it and would beat it all by hand, which once you see the recipe you will understand why that is a big deal.  Kathy told me that there were lots of little secrets to making the perfectly moist divinity so mom and I went to her house for lessons.

 Now if you're up to the challenge, I hope you will try your hand at this yummy Christmas delight.

Divinity

4 cups sugar

1 cup corn syrup

¾ cup water

Place these three ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat.  Stir until sugar is dissolved. Then continue cooking without stirring until the liquid reaches 255 degrees (use a candy thermometer to measure). 

While cooking the mixture, beat ½ cup egg whites until they are stiff. 

1/2 c egg whites equal about 3 eggs.  A little tip here, use eggs that are room temperature.  I don't know why, but it seems to affect things.  

Once the mixture on the stove has reached 255 degrees, slowly pour the hot mixture into the egg whites and beat consistently until mixture holds its shape and loses its gloss.  This is the most difficult and important part.  Too much beating and the candy will become tough and crumbly, too little and you have a gooey mess.  Just right and you have the best dang Christmas candy on the block, this is unless Kathy lives on your block.  Mom and I measured the time and we found for us that 14 minutes 30 seconds is about perfect.  

Now that you've reached the perfect texture add 1 tsp vanilla and mix for a few short seconds.  

At this point you can get very creative with the flavours of your divinity.  Mom and I like to add 3/4 cup chopped black walnuts (if you're into the whole nut scene).  Kathy creates fruity flavours by adding packets of Kool-Aid.  Yes you read that correctly, Kool-Aid.  She adds lime to create a key lime pie affect or raspberry for a nice berry flavour.  Or you can just leave it plain.  All are amazing, and all are delicious.  

After flavoured, spread it into a greased pan 9x9 pan.  Once firm cute into one inch square to serve.    

One more tip, make sure you keep in an air tight container, and most importantly, get ready for a sugar rush!

If you try making divinity I would love to hear how it went!  Would also love to hear about some of your favourite Christmas creations in the kitchen.  Happy Baking!