Divinity

Divinity Fudge is a traditional American, meringue type confection, made with granulated sugar, water, egg whites and corn syrup. There are many variations of this recipe, the one I share today also calls for nuts and vanilla as flavoring. I didn’t find a translation for it in spanish, so I named it suspiritos o merenguitos divinos. 

En español: AQUÍ

 No matter what variation you prepare, the result remains the same, a fluffy, air like candy with a crisp outer layer. It's recommended to prepare this recipe on sunny days as humidity prevents the candy from drying and alters its texture. What I hope doesn’t happen to you? After several days of extremely high temperatures and no rain, I thought this would a perfect dessert to prepare, since there is no need to turn on the oven, but as soon as I started preparing the syrup, clouds began to form. This is a photo of the cloudy sky above our home.

Divinity 

(Recipe adapted from Southern Living)

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cup water
½ cup light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
Garnish: pecan halves

1. Lightly grease a large sheet of wax paper or tray with butter; set aside.
2. Cook first 4 ingredients in a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat about 15 minutes or until sugar thermometer registers 248˚F. Lower heat and begin to beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Pour half of hot syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating constantly at high speed, about 5 minutes.
3. Cook remaining half of syrup over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 272˚F. Slowly pour hot syrup and vanilla extract over egg white mixture, beating constantly at high speed for 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture holds its shape. Place machine in stir (low speed) and add 1 cup chopped pecans.
4. Drop mixture quickly by rounded teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased wax paper or tray. Garnish, if desired. Cool.


YIELD: 4 dozen (I got 34 candies).

Notes: 
a) The process used when beating egg whites is as important as cooking the ingredients to the proper temperature. Start with a clean bowl. Any greasy residue in the bowl can reduce the volume of beaten egg whites.
b) Having a partner isn't necessary, but in helps to complete the procedure quicker. Drop candy by teaspoonfuls quickly, dipping from the bottom of the bowl and using the back of a second spoon to push the mixture off the dipping spoon. The candy will start to harden on the bottom of the bowl first.

En español: AQUÍ

A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel. ~ Proverbs 15:18

 
 Photos © Mari's Cakes