Horehound Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the decoction
Boil the dried horehound in water for about 30 minutes to make a strong decoction.
Strain the decoction and add the brown sugar.
Cook and set
Boil the mixture over high heat until it reaches the desired hardness.
Pour the mixture into well-greased flat tin trays.
Mark into sticks or squares with a knife as it cools and retains its shape.
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
- Dried horehound
- Supplies the bitter, herbal flavour that defines the candy.
- Brown sugar
- Provides the sweet body of the candy, which sets firm as its water boils off.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture until it reaches the desired hardness. Hardness depends on how much water has boiled off, which sets the sugar concentration. Stopping early leaves a soft, sticky candy, while overcooking makes it brittle and can scorch the sugar, giving a bitter, burnt flavour.
“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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