French Cream Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar and water in a bright tin pan.
Boil without stirring for 10 minutes.
Test by letting some drop from a spoon.
If the drop threads, remove from heat.
Test and cool
Rub a small spoonful against the side of a bowl.
If it becomes creamy and rolls into a ball, pour the mixture into the bowl.
Wait until the mixture is cool enough to touch.
Work the candy
Stir with a large spoon until it resembles cream.
Knead with your hands like bread dough until stiff.
If it hasn't boiled enough, return to heat for 1-2 minutes.
Be careful not to overcook.
Add flavoring as it begins to cool.
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
- Sweetness and, when the syrup is worked, the fine crystals that make the candy creamy.
- Flavoring
- Aroma, added as it cools so volatile flavor compounds are not driven off by heat.
The step that matters
Judging the boil with the spoon test. Overcooking makes the syrup too concentrated, so the candy turns hard and brittle instead of creamy. Undercooking leaves too much water, so it stays soft and will not set firm.
“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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