LEHI — It's quite possible to make delicious, mouthwatering candy by accident.
But it's also unlikely.
So many things can affect the outcome: a brewing storm, warm temperatures, stirring the pot too often or choosing poor quality ingredients.
The best thing to do is sit back and learn from someone who's been taught by experts, someone like Susan LaHargoue.
LaHargoue has a grandmother and an aunt (Pauline H. Atkinson and Ruth A. Kendrick) who literally wrote the book on candymaking from which she shared recipes at Thanksgiving Point recently. They regularly gather the grandchildren together for candymaking sessions so the family tradition continues.
"Remember, everything in the standard recipe is written for sea level," LaHargoue said. "That means you need to minus 10 degrees from whatever the boiling point is."
She suggested every person interested in making candy or chocolates that turn out well buy a good basic candy thermometer (average cost: $20-$25), wooden spoons for stirring, an ice pick for breaking up chocolate, a basic scale for weighing ingredients and a good, heavy saucepan.
She said her grandmother invented a sort of warming oven using a plastic bucket, an ordinary light bulb and a steel bowl that she set into the top of the bucket.
"It'll melt the chocolate and keep it usable for days," she said.
Candy needs to be made during the winter or in a room where the temperature is 65 degrees, she said. "You can't make candy in the warm season. It doesn't set.
"It's a science. It really is," she said.
Despite all the warnings and advice, experimenting with candy recipes really shouldn't be intimidating.
"There isn't any bad candy. You can always touch it up and make it pretty," she said.
Plus, you can eat the mistakes.
Tender Marshmallow Easter Eggs
2 (about 1/4 oz.) envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
3/4 cup hot water
1 cup light corn syrup, divided
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a small bowl, combine gelatin and cold water. Stir with a spoon until very thick. Allow to stand five minutes.
In a 2-quart saucepan, combine hot water, 1/2 cup of the corn syrup and the sugar. Place over high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a boil. Clip on candy thermometer. Cook to 238 F (115 C) or soft-ball stage. Remove from heat and stir in remaining corn syrup. Pour into medium-size bowl. Using an electric mixer at high speed, beat hot syrup, adding gelatin mixture one tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until all gelatin is incorporated, candy is thick and has cooled to lukewarm, about 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Then proceed to instructions for eggs.
Spoon flour about 1 1/2 inches deep into two 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pans. Using the back of a large spoon or an egg mold, make impressions in the flour, leaving 1/2 inch between impressions. When marshmallow is thick and lukewarm, spoon into impressions. Pour any excess marshmallow into a buttered pan. Allow to stand several hours until firm. Remove marshmallow eggs from the flour, shake off excess. Place flat side down on a waxed paper-lined tray. Dip in tempered dipping chocolate or melted compound coating. Makes about 20 2-inch eggs.
(When cutting pieces from the pan, use a knife dipped in hot water before cutting. You can roll pieces in powdered sugar to prevent sticking.)
Tips
Always put liquid in first to prevent crystallization
Pour additional ingredients into the middle of the mixture.
The richer the ingredient, the richer the taste.
Cream can be frozen and reused.
Do not scrape or shake a pan full of candy.
If candy gets too hot, add water to bring the temperature down (don't add water to chocolate).
Roll the empty saucepan over to eliminate that last-minute drip.
Use molding rather than tempered chocolate for dipping. It can be reused.
Package chocolates and candy in wrappers, boxes and containers that show them off.