Christmas Hard Candy Food

CHRISTMAS HARD CANDY

Steps:

• In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook on medium-high heat until candy thermometer reads 300° (hard-crack stage), stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat; stir in oil and food coloring, keeping face away from mixture as the scent of the oil is very strong. , Immediately pour onto an oiled baking sheet. Cool; break into pieces. Store in airtight containers.

OLD FASHIONED HARD CANDY

Steps:

• Butter two 15x10x1-in. pans; set aside. In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water and food coloring. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 300° (hard-crack stage). , Remove from the heat; stir in flavoring. Immediately pour into prepared pans; cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar; break into pieces. Store in airtight containers.

GRANDMA'S CHRISTMAS CANDY

Steps:

• Line a 9 X13 inch pan with foil. Set aside.
• In the top pot of a double boiler set, slowly melt chocolate pieces and butter until smooth. Add peanut butter and stir until well mixed.
• Pour chocolate mixture into pan; cover and chill in refrigerator until hardened. Cut into small squares and serve.

OLD-FASHIONED HOMEMADE HARD CANDY

Steps:

• In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved; then cook without stirring, lowering the heat and cooking more slowly during the last few minutes, to the hard crack stage (300 degrees F), If sugar crystals form on sides of pan, wipe them off with a damp brush.
• Remove from heat, add oil flavoring and enough food coloring to color; stir only to mix. Pour into 2 well buttered 9 inch pans. Set one pan of candy over a sauce pan containing hot water (unless you have a helper to help cut the candy). As soon as the other pan of candy is cool enough to handle, cut it with scissors into 1-inch strips. Then snip the strips into pieces. Work fast. Drop the pieces onto a buttered baking sheet. If the candy cools too quickly, set it on a saucepan over hot water to soften it, but if it gets sticky, return at once to the work counter.
• Toss in a small amount of powdered sugar to keep from sticking together. Repeat with the second pan of candy.

OLD FASHIONED HARD CANDY

Steps:

• Generously coat a cookie sheet with confectioners' sugar, and set aside.
• In a heavy bottomed saucepan, stir together the white sugar, water and corn syrup until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium-high and cook to a temperature of 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads. Remove from heat, and stir in the flavored oil and food coloring.
• Immediately pour the sugar mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet in a thin stream (this helps it cool). When the candy is cool enough for the outer edge to hold its shape, cut into bite size pieces with scissors. Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

HARD CANDY

Steps:

• Mix syrup, sugar and water.
• Bring to hard/crack boil on candy thermometer.
• Stir in Candy oil and food coloring. (watch about the steam coming off of the mixture, it can really get you).
• Butter the heat resistant surface you will be working on. (She had a marble candy board, I use a cookie sheet).
• When cool enough to touch with hands (but not too cool or it will be too late), butter you hands and kitchen scissors and begin cutting pieces with scissors.
• Put pieces in a bowl of confection sugar (coats each piece from sticking to one another) and when you get alot in the bowl, skake it thru a stainer to get excess off.
• This is a very, very fast paced thing! We always cut it to make small pieces, and we bent in any sharp edges to make it easier for the kids. I have poured it into the cookie sheet and as it sets up, you scour it with a pizza cutter. When completely cooled you can break it apart. It all depends on whether I have help or not.

CHRISTMAS HARD CANDY

Steps:

• Put a couple of LIGHTLY oiled and then wiped out, 10" frying pan (metal--not cast iron) in the freezer for 20 minutes or so before starting the candy (one for each batch).
• Put the confectioners sugar in a bowl and put on the table where you will be working with the candy.
• Put the Karo syrup, sugar, and water in a large saucepan; bring it to a boil and cook over medium heat till thermometer reaches 300F to 305F (hard crack stage).
• Immediately take off the stove and add the flavoring and the food coloring.
• Pour into the cold pans and wait till it starts to set; it will cool around the edges first.
• When it does, start picking up and snipping with scissors to desired size.
• Put into the confectioners sugar and leave there, tossing every so often, till you are done.
• When that particular flavor is done, put the candy in a sifter and sift the confectioners sugar off and put into a clean bowl; save this sugar for the next batch.
• AMOUNT OF OIL FLAVORING THAT I USE:.
• cinnamon--scant 1/2 teaspoon (deep red); lemon--full 1/2 teaspoon (yellow); anise--full 1/2 teaspoon (blue); lime--full 1/2 teaspoon (light green); spearmint--exactly 1/2 teaspoon (dark green); orange--full 1/2 teaspoon (medium orange); clove--level 1/4 teaspoon (this flavor is very strong--no color).

CINNAMON HARD CANDY

Steps:

• Line a large cookie sheet with a 1 inch lip with foil.
• Butter the foil and set pan aside.
• Add water, sugar, corn syrup and food coloring to large heavy pan and stir until well mixed.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring occasionally.
• Cover pan with lid and cook for 3 minutes (very important, this will dissolve the sugar crystals that may form on the sides of the pan)
• Take lid off pan and cook on medium-high heat, without stirring until a candy thermometer reaches 300°F (hard crack stage), about 25 minutes. (Be patient, don't turn up heat to speed this up as it can go from cooking to burning in a second and the whole batch would be ruined).
• Remove candy from heat stir in cinnamon oil (house will spell like cinnamon for days unless you open windows before you do this step, also be careful not to have your face right over the the pot).
• Quickly pour into prepared pan.
• Cool completely (about 45 minutes).
• Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and use a hammer to get pieces small enough to get into a large zip top bag, then smash inside the bag until they are bite sized.
• Add powdered sugar to bag and shake to coat all sides (note, check for holes in bag first, sometimes the candy punctures the bag).
• Enjoy.

CHRISTMAS HARD CANDY

Steps:

• Mix first 3 ingredients and boil to hard crack stage, 300ºF.
• Add oil of cinnamon or peppermint and food coloring.
• Pour into foiled lined cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle powdered sugar over the candy while its still warm.
• Break candy in small pieces when it is cool enough to handle.