Perfect Divinity

OK, Critterologist, this one's for you.

There are some techniques to making divinity that I have learned thru the years, so please forgive me if I over explain, because I want you to be able to skip over all the mistakes I have made in the past.

The most important issue with divinity is temperature. You need a candy thermometer, and it needs to be calibrated. A cheap one from the grocery store works fine, but you must calibrate it each time you use it. Altitude and barometric pressure will affect your results, but by doing a simple test your readings will be very accurate.

Almost fill a medium sized saucepan with straight sides. Place your thermometer on the side and bring the water to a boil. Ten minutes after the boil, take a reading from your thermometer. In fair weather and at sea level this will be 212 degrees F. If your reading is less than this, subtract that reading from 212 to get your calibration. If your reading is greater than this, add the difference to your calibration. Today I made divinity and first tested my thermometer. My reading was 203. My calibration is -9 degrees. We are almost 3000' above sea level, so about 5 of those degrees are explained by altitude, and the rest is probably barometric pressure--or maybe there is a fault in the thermometer, but it doesn't matter why. My calibration is -9. So, if the recipe says to cook to 248, as in Step 1 of the cooking, I cook to 239. Where the recipe says 268 degrees, as in Step 2 of the cooking, I cook to 259. There is a bit of tolerance in the target temps given in the recipe, but aim for exact and you will never err too much.

Another factor is humidity. Avoid making divinity on extremely humid days, but you can adjust for humidity by removing some water from your recipe. On a humid day here, I subtract about a Tbsp. from the 1/2 C called for. Do not make your divinity while simmering a pot of soup in the kitchen or soaking a sinkful of dishes.

There is a lot of water in egg whites. The ingredient measurements given are for using large eggs. If you use small eggs, add a little water. If you use extra large, subtract a little water.

Start beating your egg whites when your syrup temp is 225-230 so they will be freshly finished just before you add the hot syrup. Beaten eggs start losing moisture almost immediately, so you don't want to have them sitting around very long. Separate the eggs while cold from the fridge, and let them come to room temp before beating. Start beating at a low setting. Add the cream of tartar when the whites have gotten foamy, and then crank it up to high and finish to the stiff peak stage. The egg whites will form a stable ball on your beaters, and the peaks will be straight up. Do not beat beyond this point.

Use an electric stand mixer with a stainless steel bowl. Use the whisk beaters to beat the egg whites, and then you can switch to the paddle beaters when you start adding syrup.

Do not double this recipe unless you have a very heavy-duty mixer.

You need a 2 to 2 1/2 qt pot with straight sides and a fitted lid. My pot is 5" tall and 6" in diameter, has a lid and a pour spout.

Have a silicon mat or parchment paper on a cookie sheet ready. If you use a cookie sheet under your mat or paper, it will be easy to transfer the finished batch to another area to dry.

2 1/2 C extra or super-fine granulated sugar
1/2 C water
1/2 C light Karo syrup
1/4 tsp salt

whites only of 2 large eggs
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 rounded cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)


Stir sugar, salt, water and Karo together in a sauce pan and then turn heat to medium. Continue stirring frequently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally, and then quit stirring, put the lid on the pot and let boil covered for 3 minutes. This will wash all the crystals off the sides of the pot. Remove the lid and hang the thermometer on the side of the pot. Cook to 248 F without stirring. Start beating the egg whites as you approach this temp. Add about 1/4 of the hot syrup to the egg whites in a very thin stream while beating on slow-medium and beat for a minute or so, meanwhile returning the remainder of the pot of syrup to the heat.

Continue cooking to 268 F. Remove syrup from heat and add all of it to the egg white mixture in a thin stream while beating at medium-high. Beat for about a minute on high and then turn off mixer. If there is any art to making this candy, this is where it begins. You need to monitor this syrup batter to find when it is ready to scoop into candies. Turn the mixer back on in about 10 minutes and observe how set it is. Mix for a few seconds and then turn off and raise the beaters and watch how the batter flows off the beaters. If it is FLOWING it is not ready. Wait a few more minutes and test again. When it is ready, the sides of the bowl will be between warm and not hot, and the batter flowing off the beaters will form a fairly stable column. The puddles in the bowl will heap onto themselves and not melt immediately into the batch. Turn mixer back on (slow) and add vanilla, mix well, and then add pecans a little at a time until well mixed. Remove bowl from mixer and take to your prepared mat. I use a little ice-cream type scooper to form the candies, or two spoons, and I dip these in water as I am dipping if it starts getting too sticky. I dip my fingers in the water also to help nudge the candies out of the scooper as necessary. Your candies should hold a mounded form. Do one mound and watch it for a few seconds. If it tends to flatten, your batter is not set enough. Just wait a while, and then try again.

As soon as your candies have dried (lost their stickiness) on the mat, place them in an airtight container. Freeze any that will not be consumed in a few days.

NOTE that a lot of beating is not necessary. Getting your candy batter to set is all about cooling evenly and not about beating. Most recipes call for beating on high for 15-20 min. or more. Sheesh! Not necessary.

If your batter gets overly set (grainy), mix in some water, a few drops at a time, until it is workable. If your batter is not set enough (flattens on the mat), just wait a while and try again. If it seems it will never set up, you probably did not cook the syrup enough, but you can still save it by placing in a buttered casserole and letting it set for 24 hours before cutting into squares.

This is my mother's fave candy, so I send her a double recipe each Christmas, and she keeps it in the freezer for months, just taking out a few pieces at a time. I ship it to her in Gladware or similar type containers, which keeps it very fresh until she receives it and puts in freezer.

--Pen