Divinity Hearts

My mother always made divinity at Christmas when I was little. My mother in law made it, too. It was one of my favorite things when I was little. But whenever I tried to make it, I failed. However, I finally found a recipe that works for me. Last night I made some and used a pastry bag with a very large star tip (B6) to make Heart shaped divinity. It took a little practice, but I think they turned out to be pretty cute.

Don't bring the first hump of the heart clear down to the bottom of the point (make it smaller) Then overlap with the second hump, bringing it down to the point of the heart. Squeeze the bag a little at the top of the hump and release the pressure as you pull the divinity to the point.

Divinity sets up rather quickly so you have to work fast. I was only able to get about half the batch to work as hearts. The rest I just formed into normal divinity.

Here is the recipe I used:

Divinity

4 cups sugar

1 cup white corn syrup

3/4 cup cold water

3 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 drops food coloring

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir only until sugar has dissolved. Do not stir after this point. Cook syrup mixture until it reaches hard ball stage (260 degrees at sea level).

While the syrup is cooking, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Once the sugar mixture reaches hard ball stage, carefully pour a slow steady stream of syrup into the stiffly beaten egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Add the vanilla and food coloring and continue to beat until mixture holds its shape. (this will take 5 minutes or more).

Using 2 spoons, drop the divinity onto waxed paper or parchment paper, using 1 spoon to push the candy off the other. Or put mixture in a pastry bag and pipe into heart shapes.

Always remember to calibrate your candy thermometer so it measure correctly for your altitude (hard ball is actually 253 degrees at my altitude)