Make Your Own Candy Canes
Photo: Tara Fisher
Candy Canes
Makes about 12
Who doesn’t love candy canes? These say Christmas more than any other candy, and no Christmas stocking or gift is complete without one. Once you’ve become skilled at making candy canes, you could try adding in a third color twist—now that would really impress Santa!
Sunflower oil, for greasing
1 cup superfine sugar
2 tablespoons liquid glucose
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Red food-coloring paste
Equipment: Sugar thermometer
Store: Candy canes are best served no more than 1–2 days after making. They should be individually wrapped in cellophane and stored in a cool, dry place.
Preheat the oven to 250°F.
Prepare your equipment and measure all of the ingredients before you begin, because once the sugar is boiling you will need to work quickly. Cover 2 baking sheets with nonstick parchment paper and grease the paper well with sunflower oil. Grease an offset spatula and some kitchen scissors with oil, too.
Combine the sugar, liquid glucose, cream of tartar, and 1⁄3 cup water in a small to medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring slowly to a boil, stirring frequently to completely dissolve the sugar. Pop the sugar thermometer into the pan. Continue to boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the syrup reaches 300°F. Do not be tempted to walk away from the pan or do anything else while the sugar is coming up to temperature—it can easily and quickly go over and above the required heat. As soon as the syrup comes to temperature, working quickly, remove the pan from the heat, add the peppermint extract, and mix to combine.
Divide the syrup evenly between the prepared baking sheets, add a tiny drop of red food coloring to one sheet, and leave both to cool for about 1 minute or until a light skin has formed on the top. Working on one sheet at a time and starting with the plain syrup, use the greased offset spatula to lift the edges of the syrup up and over and back on itself until it cools, thickens, and becomes tacky. Once it is cool enough to handle, quickly gather the candy in your hands and pull it into a thick rope, twisting it back on itself and pulling it back into a rope again. Repeat this pulling and twisting until the rope starts to lighten in color and becomes white, firm, and cool. Pull the white candy into an inch-thick rope and place on the greased paper. Repeat with the red candy mixture. You want both the red and white candy ropes to be the same thickness and temperature. You can pop the white candy into the warm oven for 30 seconds to warm it again if you need to.
Lay the red candy rope on top of the white and roll them gently on the work surface so that they stick together. Start to twist one end so that the colors merge into a spiral—you may need to gently pull the ends to lengthen and thin the candy as you do this. Using the greased scissors, snip the candy into 6-inch lengths and bend one end of each piece into the distinctive candy cane shape. Place on a clean sheet of nonstick parchment paper and leave until cold and hard.
If at any point the candy becomes too hard and brittle, place it on a parchment paper–covered baking sheet and warm in the oven for 10–20 seconds until pliable again.
Excerpted from Sweet Things by Annie Rigg (Kyle Books, 2014).
Don’t stop at candy canes:
Make Your Own Peppermint Bark
The Much-Hated Fruitcake Gets a Makeover
Holiday Cut-Out Cookies
What are your favorite holiday candies?
