This is an old time classic. If you don't know what it is, ask your grandparents, I'm sure they will!
I first learned of divinity when I met Jaren. It was one of his grandma's recipes, and it was one of his favorites. She used to make chocolate Easter eggs that she sent to all her grandkids every year. These were homemade eggs, with their names written on them and cute flowers decorating the outside! I can not imagine how long that took her, especially since she had 50+ grandkids!! Anyways, these eggs were big, one was always filled with peanut butter and the other with divinity. Every year Jaren would bargain with his siblings, "I'll give you my peanut butter if you give me your divinity."
Jaren lived with his grandma while we were engaged and I got to know her well. I spent numerous hours in her kitchen watching her make this candy and making sure I had all the details memorized so that I could continue on this tradition long after she had passed away. I'm so glad I did. Three out of the four of us really like it! Oh yeah, and that's the other thing, you either like divinity, or you don't!
It's a candy, and making candy can be finicky. If not done just right, the divinity won't harden and you'll be left with, what Verna called, spoon candy. This isn't bad either, it tastes a lot like marshmallow cream. But, when you want divinity, it's always a little disheartening when you're left with a soft cream.
Tip: make sure you have a candy thermometer. Verna never did, she used the old drop-syrup-in-a-cold-glass-of-water trick, so that's how I learned. But I gotta say, it's way easier with a candy thermometer!!
DIVINITY:
- parchment paper
- 3 egg whites
- vanilla
Syrup one: Syrup two:
- 1 cup sugar - 3 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup water - 1 c. karo syrup
- pinch of salt - 1 c. water
- Beat the egg whites in a standing mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Add ingredients for both syrups to individual pans and place over medium heat. Stir them continually until they reach a boil. Cook the first syrup until it reaches soft crack stage (270-290 degrees). Cook the second syrup until it reaches a hard crack stage (300-310 degrees).
- The first syrup will finish way before the second syrup. Once it is done, turn your mixer back on and let your egg whites whip for a minute, then slowly add the first syrup. Once it's mixed well turn off and let sit.
- Once the second syrup is done, repeat. Turn your mixer on and slowly add the second syrup.
- After the second syrup is well mixed, add the vanilla.
- At this point you leave your mixer on and let it do it's thing. What you're waiting for is for the divinity to begin to set up. You will hear it before you see it. It will start to sound like there are air bubbles in your divinity.
- Once it's set up enough you'll need to gather help from the family (because you only have a short amount of time before it gets too hard). Each person needs two large spoons, and you quickly drop the divinity onto parchment paper that has previously been laid out.
Below you'll see three different pictures. In the first photo is what happens if you drop your divinity too early, before it's set up. The second photo is when you drop your divinity at just the right time! And the third photo is what happens if you wait too long to drop your divinity. WARNING: the amount of time from photo two to photo three is only a matter of seconds. So once your divinity reachers it's prime time, you'll need to move fast! That's why I like to bring in the family and have everyone help!
Comments