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To Boil Sugar for Candying

A method for clarifying and boiling sugar to a feather degree for candying.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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To Boil Sugar for Candying

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Clarify sugar in syrup as per standard method.

  2. Boil clarified syrup until it reaches 35 degrees (feather degree).

  3. Immerse the pan in a deep dish filled with cold water and ice to cool quickly.

Prepare the candying pan

  1. Place a circular cut piece of paper on the sugar.

  2. Once cooled, pour the sugar into the candying pan with the items to be candied.

  3. Cover with a close-fitting piece of thin paper.

Dry the candies

  1. Set the pan in a drying closet with a temperature between 15°F to 20°F.

  2. Let candies remain for about 18 hours.

  3. Withdraw corks from the funnel-like tubes to drain syrup and allow the fruit to dry.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Concentrated sugar syrup replaces water in the fruit, adding sweetness and helping it keep.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup to 35 degrees (feather degree). The final temperature of the syrup sets how much water remains, which controls how firmly the sugar sets around the fruit. Cooling quickly helps prevent large sugar crystals from forming.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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