Making Belgian Candi Sugar

Last night I made candy, er, candi for the first time. I don’t have a candy, er, candi thermometer so I pulled out Michelle’s old school Better Homes & Gardens red check cookbook and found their cold water method, which involves dropping some of the hot sugar in to cold water then seeing how it reacts to touch. It wasn’t too important since I just boiled until it started to turn amber and let a little smoke billow from the splash-up on the sides. After it cooled, I poured it on to a foil covered tray and let it cool.

Note to self: Don’t eat the little bit you’ve dropped in to the cold water as it acts like epoxy on your teeth. I thought I lost a filling trying to get my jaws apart, and this morning I woke up with a sore face. All in the name of brewing.

Here’s a little gallery of the process.

Raw Sugar > Water/Sugar slurry (1lbs sugar, 1/2 cup h20, pinch of citric acid) > boiling sugar > amber sugar > cooling candi > broken pieces. Total cost? $2.

Second note to self: Next time make a syrup. The hunks of candi created a monster blob in the bottom of the kettle. They eventually returned to solution, but the syrup would be easier to manage.