The Classic Christmas Recipe Every Mom Should Make With Her Daughter At Least Once
Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer
Holiday candy making is a beautiful, old-fashioned Southern tradition. Not only because the results look and taste so incredible—but because it requires quality time spent with loved ones.
Divinity, one of the most traditional Southern Christmas treats, is the perfect recipe for some mother-daughter (or son!) bonding in the kitchen.
Divinity candies, which look like pillowy white clouds and taste like nougat, are usually topped with pecans. While we love making it the traditional way (like our ever-popular Mrs. Floyd's Divinity), divinity can also be open to interpretation. Baking experts Nancie McDermott and Jill O'Connor developed an extra-special divinity recipe for our December issue, including crushed peppermints.
They are just as easy to make as the classic, as long as you have a trusty assistant and a few other things. "Divinity requires a good candy thermometer and a stand mixer, a careful arrangement of all the ingredients before you begin, sunny weather, and your undivided attention," McDermott and O'Connor explain. (Damp, rainy days do not produce good divinity, so choose a "divinity day" that is sunny and dry.) "Have a helper join you in spooning up the candies and topping them with chopped peppermint candy or candy canes."
Divinity is the sort of candy that requires an assembly line to make. As one person quickly scoops the divinity mixture and places it onto the prepared baking sheets, the second person can sprinkle them with the crushed peppermints. It's a recipe that demands that you put down your phone, pay attention, and work together, all of which are essential things a mother wants her children to learn.
