best Christmas candies recipes.

All you need to make candy at home are a few common kitchen items, simple ingredients, and a little candy-making know-how. We'll show you what you need and walk you through tips and techniques for making candy at home, plus share favorite recipes. 

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Candy-Making Tools  

You might have already got a maximum of the tools you want to make candy for your kitchen proper now:   

   Saucepan: medium-sized with a heavy bottom and straight sides. it must be large enough to keep three to four times the volume of the ingredients; this may help prevent boil-overs.

• Large bowl: massive enough to maintain the saucepan; it helps you to cool the sweet whilst it is nonetheless in the pan. due to the fact, the temperature of the sugar aggregate maintains to upward thrust even after it's been removed from the heat, immersing the pan in bloodless water or an ice water tub stops the cooking at just the proper time.
• Wooden spoon: pick one with a long handle.
• Pastry brush: set one aside solely for candy-making. a few recipes will name for brushing down the edges of the pan with water to save you crystallization.
• Candy thermometer: although it is viable to make candy without one, a pitcher sweet thermometer is a should-have for novices. even specialists use one. choose a thermometer with a metal clamp that attaches to the facet of the pan.
• Non-obligatory: if you make candy on an extra everyday foundation, you could want to invest in a marble slab and a copper caramel pan.

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Candy-Making Ingredients  

• Sugar is the maximum simple ingredient in sweet, so excellent matters. use an unopened package deal of sugar; this may make certain that there was no contamination from different substances generally observed within the kitchen, which include flour or salt. 

• Unsalted butter is the fat of choice, except the recipe particularly calls for salted butter. right here's why: the salt content of salted butter can have an effect on your final product. by no means use margarine in a recipe that calls for butter; margarine has a higher water content, That allows you to drastically affect the cooking time and outcomes. 

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Tips for Cooking with Sugar  

Dissolve sugar into liquid components over low heat, after which bring to a boil. don't stir once the sugar has dissolved, until directed to by using the recipe.

• Either clamp the thermometer to the aspect of the pan, or periodically location it inside the syrup to measure the temperature.
• The bulb of the thermometer needs to no longer touch the sides or backside of the pan, or you'll get a faulty analyzing.
• Constantly clean the thermometer after every trying out, and maintain it by the stove in a glass of heat water.
• Cook dinner until the preferred temperature is reached. right away get rid of the pan from the warmth, and cool the lowest of the pan in the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking, unless the recipe says otherwise. for example, peanut brittle directs you to pour the new sweet onto a greased baking sheet or oiled marble without cooling.
• Be very, very cautious whilst handling hot, melted sugar.

If you do not have a sweet thermometer, use the cold water technique to check the candy:

• Drop a small quantity of the mixture into a tumbler of cold water, after which look at it carefully to determine if it is at thread degree, gentle ball level, tough ball stage, and many others. (see desk beneath.)
• Do away with the pan from the warmth even as checking out to keep away from overcooking the sweet, which makes it flavor burnt and bitter. use a sparkling glass of water for every check.

Cooking Sugar at High Altitude  

As with maximum cooking at high altitudes, there are changes you'll want to make with sweet recipes. for every 500 ft above sea stage, lower the temperature with the aid of one diploma. if you stay at an altitude of 3500 ft and the recipe calls for cooking to 234° f, cook it to 227° f.