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Anytime we want to emphasise something as being easy, we say, ‘Piece of Cake’. Cake making is so easy. Just mix materials, pour into a pan and bake to perfection! However, people don’t use ‘Piece of Candy’ in quite the same way. Most people think making candy is difficult. On the contrary, it has lesser ingredients and quicker cooking. The only tricky part is the consistency of the syrup. But who’s worried about that in the age of candy thermometers. Just follow the recipe to the T and stick your thermometer in to see if the required temperature has been achieved. Take it off the flame and most of your work is already done. You can now transform this into whatever you like-fudge, toffees, caramel, boiled candy, treacle, marshmallows and even make sugar creations like edible glass!
It’s quite fun. In fact, this is both food physics and chemistry rolled into one. So arm yourself with a pan, spatula and sugar and knock yourself out!
Here’s the low down on various stages of a sugar syrup and the yummilicious candy that can be created at each stage.
You Will Need:
A thick bottomed deep pan with a handle
A spatula
2 cup sugar
2 cups water
A candy thermometer
Add the sugar and water to the pan and on a low flame, allow the sugar to melt. Keep stirring with a spatula occasionally to prevent the sugar from burning and gradually bring it to a boil.
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1. Soft Ball Stage
Temperature: 239° F/115°C
At this temperature, sugar syrup dropped into cold water will form a soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from the water, it will flatten like a pancake after a few moments in your hand.
You can make a lovely box of fudge by cooking ingredients with syrup to a soft ball stage. Check out this recipe which makes a sweet, tangy and absolutely creamy lemon fudge here.
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2. Hard Ball Stage
Temperature: 265° F/129°C
At this stage, the syrup will form thick, ‘ropy’ threads as it drips from the spoon. The sugar concentration is rather high now, which means there’s less and less moisture in the sugar syrup. A little of this syrup dropped into cold water will form a hard ball. If you take the ball out of the water, it won’t flatten. The ball will be hard, but you can still change its shape by squashing it.
Nougat, marshmallows, gummies, divinity, and rock candy are cooked to the hard ball stage.
Check out this fab recipe here by David Lebowitz for fluffy white vanilla marshmallows, pure as driven snow. You could skip the plain gelatin for strawberry or raspberry too for added flavor and colour.
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3. Soft Crack Stage
Temperature: 289° F/142°C
When the syrup reaches soft crack stage, the bubbles on top will become smaller, thicker, and closer together. At this stage, the moisture content is low. When you drop a bit of this syrup into cold water, it will solidify into threads that, when removed from the water, are flexible, not brittle. They will bend slightly before breaking.
Check out this recipe here for butterscotch candy that you can just suck on while doing your chores or reading in leisure.
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4. Hard Crack Stage
Temperature: 313° F/156° C
The hard crack stage is the highest temperature you are likely to see specified in a candy recipe. At these temperatures, there is almost no water left in the syrup. Drop a little of the molten syrup in cold water and it will form hard, brittle threads that break when bent.
CAUTION: To avoid burns, allow the syrup to cool in the cold water for a few moments before touching it!
Toffee, nut brittles, and lollipops are all cooked to the hard crack stage.
Best of all, you get to make sugar glass. Use it to decorate your desserts. Just let your imagination run wild as you come up with all kinds of concoctions. Check out this recipe here for some gorgeous sea glass candy.
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