Christmas Coal Food

LUMPS OF COAL

Steps:

• Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat; add marshmallows and stir until melted. Cook and stir mixture for 2 minutes more. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir crushed cookies into marshmallow mixture until well coated.
• Press cookie mixture firmly into the prepared baking dish using a buttered spatula or waxed paper; cool. Cut into 2-inch squares.

CHRISTMAS COAL CANDY

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Mix together the egg white, confectioners' sugar and cocoa in a bowl with a fork until smooth and very thick. (The mixture should hang on the fork in a blob without falling off.) Whisk in the vanilla and vinegar. Whisk in enough food coloring to turn the mixture a deep black color and the brown of the cocoa is no longer visible, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon.
• Combine the granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and stir until the mixture looks like wet sand. Using a wet pastry brush, wipe down the sides of the pot where any sugar has clung to the side. Cook over medium heat until the mixture registers 258 to 260 degrees F on a candy thermometer, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately stir in the black mixture, stirring vigorously until smooth. Spread in the prepared pan and let harden and cool completely, about 2 hours.
• Lift the candy out of the pan using the parchment paper overhang as handles. Peel off the parchment and chip into small irregular-sized pieces using a chisel or a sturdy butter knife and rubber mallet.

CANDY COAL

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch square baking pan with a piece of aluminum foil large enough to overhang the sides by about 2 inches. Set aside.
• Bring sugar, 3/4 cup water, and corn syrup to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Stir to dissolve sugar, and wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to prevent crystals from forming. Once mixture comes to a boil and all the sugar has dissolved, clip a candy thermometer to pan, and raise heat to high. Continue cooking without stirring until mixture registers 300 degrees. Remove from heat.
• Carefully add food coloring, extract, and baking soda; stir slowly with a clean wooden spoon until thoroughly combined and mixture no longer bubbles, about 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan, and let cool completely. Lift foil to remove candy from pan, and transfer candy to a large plastic bag. Crush with a kitchen mallet into chunks.