Monday, November 27, 2006

From The Mailbag: Fairy Food Recipe

fairyfoodBetsy K. emailed the Dish in search of a good Fairy Food or Sponge Candy recipe.
Also called Angel Food Candy, here are the most common ingredients:
•Corn Syrup (light or dark)
•White Granulated Sugar
•Vinegar
•Baking Soda
•Semi-sweet Chocolate (chips or bark)
Used less frequently:
•Brown Sugar
•Butter
•Paraffine (my mother hates this stuff)
From the Familyfun.com recipe file, here's Marsha From New London's Recipe For Angel Food Candy:
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon baking soda
8 oz. chocolate
1. Cook the vinegar, sugar, and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.
2. Continue heating without stirring until it reaches the hard-crack stage (hard brittle threads) or 300 degrees on your candy thermometer. (If you're sick of people asking, "How on earth did you manage to break another candy thermometer?", here's a handy Candy Temperature Chart.)
3. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Stir well.
4. Pour into ungreased 8x8 inch pan, and let spread on its own.
5. Let cool.
6. While cooling, melt your chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat. (I prefer a double boiler. If you don't have one, use a pan and metal bowl to melt your candy. Make sure the sizes don't allow for splash back into the smaller, melting bowl.)
7. Lay out your non-stick paper. Don't use cheap wax paper, it sticks to everything. If you want to be sure, use parchment paper. (There are some interesting comments on this subject at Say La Vee, where they talk about Silpat, which I've never tried with candy.)
8. Break your cooled candy into chunks, and dip in the melted chocolate.
9. Place on non-stick paper until the chocolate hardens. Store in cool place. Avoid using the fridge if possible.
Watch out for quick temperature changes which causes surface moisture.
This results in sugar and fat blooms.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:34 PM

    This recipe looks good. I think I'll try it. It sounds as if the candy will keep for a few weeks until Christmas if properly wrapped.

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  2. Anonymous7:21 PM

    didn't they use barley sugar at james j? what is barley sugar?

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  3. If it isn't the elusive Violetb.
    Did James J. use barely sugar? How should I know, I was too busy eating every piece of candy in sight.
    I'll ask Laurie J.
    Those clear suckers shaped like bears are made from barely sugar.
    You can try Cybele's blog entry on barley sugar at:
    http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/
    item/barley_sugar_candy/
    NOTE: I've had trouble accessing this entry when pasting in the URL. You can also follow the Candyblog link from my blogroll, then type in "barley sugar" in the search box.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Violet,

    Laurie J. says they use C&H pure cane sugar.

    Answers.com defines barley sugar as:
    A clear, hard candy made by boiling down sugar, formerly with an extract of barley added.

    Cybele has answers to questions like this on her comprehensive and entertaining blog.

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  5. I've been looking everywhere for a fairy food recipe since I've moved out of state. Thank you so much <3!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Sea, it was a lot of fun to see this made at James J. too. Stop by again.

    ReplyDelete

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