Nutty Divinity

It’s week two of Christmas candy! I was feeling quite ambitious this morning and had my sights set on making divinity and fudge, but I realized I didn’t have all of the chocolate I needed to make fudge today. It looks like divinity will have to do for now.

A Christmas tradition in my husband’s family, divinity is one of those mouthwatering treats that no one can resist. My mother-in-law taught me how to make divinity last year and I decided it was finally time for me to attempt the recipe. Making this confection always seemed intimidating to me. A number of factors determine if this recipe will turn out or not (humidity, boiling the syrup to the right temperature, etc.), which made me tend to stray away from this recipe. I’m proud to announce that my first attempt at making divinity was a success! While I was beating the mixture in my Kitchen Aid, I was worried that it wouldn’t set (I ended up mixing it longer than I had expected), but with patience I was able to make these beauties.

The pecans in this divinity give the fluffy candy just the right amount of nutty texture.

Ingredients:

•  2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup water
• dash of salt
• 2 eggs whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Mix sugar, corn syrup, water and salt over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan. Boil the mixture until it reaches 260 degrees F on a candy thermometer or until a small amount of mixture dropped into ice water holds it’s shape, but flattens when pressed.
2. Beat eggs whites on high until stiff peaks form. Continue beating while slowly pouring hot syrup into egg whites.
3. Add the vanilla and beat mixture until no longer glossy (this can take anywhere from 6-10 minutes). At this point,  mixture should be able to hold its shape. Stir in chopped nuts (I made half of my candies with nuts and half without).
4. Drop scoops of mixture onto a sheet of waxed paper.
5. Allow divinity to harden (this may take several hours) and then place in an airtight container.

Additional Notes:

I recommend not making this recipe if the weather is humid. The divinity will not set with extra humidity in the air.