Some of the best candy you have ever tasted can come right out of your own kitchen. And, your kids will never forget you making candy for them – or let them help you.
Some of my favorite childhood memories are of an old fashioned taffy pull. My mom, Carole Barrett, would make a big kettle of taffee. All the friends we could think of were there. We would each get a buttered plate with a bunch of the taffee in the middle. After smearing butter on our hands, we would take the taffee to the back porch and start pulling it. Grabbing the taffee with our finger tips, we would pull it out as far as we could and then double it over. The taffee was hot, so mom would always do this when there was snow outside. So, as soon as our hands got too hot, we would put down our plates and put our hands in the snow. The taffee started out a dark brown, but when it had turned a blonde color, we know it was done. Then we put our plates out in the snow – where the dogs couldn’t get it. And we would go play games until it was cool. Then we got to try our creations. If we had done it right, we could break off small bites of taffee that would be chewy but soft enough so you wouldn’t break a tooth. You can make the same kind of memories in your home with some of these recipes:
Buckeye Candy Kisses:
Beat the whites of four small eggs to a high, firm froth, stir into it half a pound pulverized sugar, flavor with essence lemon or rose, continue to beat until very light; then drop half the size of an egg, and a little more than an inch apart, on well-buttered letter paper; lay the paper on a half-inch board and place in a hot oven; watch, and as soon as they begin to look yellowish take them out; or, beat to a stiff froth the whites of two eggs, stirring into them very gradually two teacups powdered sugar and two tablespoons cornstarch; bake on buttered tins fifteen minutes in a warm oven, or until slightly brown. Chocolate puffs are made by adding two ounces grated chocolate mixed with the cornstarch.
Everton Taffy with Brown Sugar:
Put butter, 1/4 lb, into a suitable dish, with brown sugar, 1 lb; stir over the fire for 15 minutes, or until the mixture becomes brittle when dropped in cold water; add lemon or vanilla flavoring after the cooking is completed; cool on flat buttered tins and mark in squares, before cold, so it can be easily broken.
Neighborhood Popcorn Ball Recipe:
One cup of molasses, one cup of brown sugar, one tablespoon of vinegar, butter size of an egg. Boil all ingredients until brittle. Pour this over two quarts of popcorn and mold into balls.
Meringue Mushrooms To make these, take either of the pastes for meringues or light icing, as for cakes; put some into a bag in the shape of a cone, with a tin pipe at the end, the same as used for Savoy biscuits; lay them off in drops the size you wish them to be, on iron plates rubbed quite clean and dry, bake them as you would meringues, make also a smaller drop to form the stalk; when they are baked, take them off the tin, and scoop out a little with your finger from the bottom near the edge, to form the hollow rough surface underneath; then dry them in the stove; scrape some chocolate and dissolve it in a little warm water, and rub a little over the rough part underneath; then place the stalk in the center, fixing it with a little icing, and let the flat part, which was on the tin, be placed outermost to represent where it was cut.
And you might want to try this old historic recipe as well:
“Hickory Nut Creams 3 cups brown sugar 1 cup cream or evaporated milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon butter 2 cups hickory nuts Stir sugar and cream together until sugar dissolves. Boil to 234 degrees F. or until a little of the mixture forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Cool to lukewarm. Add vanilla, butter, and nuts, and beat until creamy. Drop from spoon on waxed paper. makes 3 dozen creams.” —Foods from the Founding Fathers, Helen Newbury Burke [Exposition Press: Hicksville NY] 1978 (p. 316) [Philadelphia]