Two failed candy making attempts

Honey fudge





1kg Granulated sugar
410g tin of evaporated milk
100ml water
a pinch of salt
4heaped Tbsp honey
Veg oil for greasing a tin
100g Butter
Put the sugar, evaporated milk and water in a saucepan. The pan should be no more than about a third full at this stage, because the hot mixture will bubble dramatically later. Place over a low heat and stir till the sgar has dissolved. Then stir in the salt and honey. Stand the sugar thermometer in the pan.
Raise the heat and bring the sugar mixture to a fierce, bubbling boil, stirring every half a minute or so, to ensure it isn’t catching on the bottom of the pan. When it reaches 116c, turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes. Oil your tin lightly
Cut the butter, into 5 or 6 pieces, and drop them into the mixture. As you do stir vigorously with the wooden spoon. The butter will melt into the thickening syrup, keep stirring. As the mixture cools and thickens, it will start to become grainey. Now it’s time to pour it into the tin. Don’t hang around, or it will start to set while you are pouring it.
Use a sharp knife to Mark off the fudge into squares before it has completely set. This means pressing the knife partly but not completely through the fudge. It will then be very easy to break into squares when it has cooled.

This is from River Cottage Family Cookbook.

Cinder Toffee Honeycomb



400g caster sugar
100ml runny honey
2tbsp liquid glucose
oil, for greasing
1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Place the sugar, honey and glucose in a heavy based pan with 100ml water. Place the pan on the heat and, using a sugar thermometer, bring to a boil and boil to 160c/325f (a light caramel)
Grease a large baking tray with oil while the sugar is boiling. When the pan reaches the required temperature remove from the heat, quickly add the bicarb and whisk in speedily.
Working quickly, pour the mixture onto the tray – it will start to bubble up quite dramatically right away. Leave to cool. When cold, break up and mix with ice cream, or to make hokey pokey, dice into chunks and coat in dark chocolate.

From James Martin - Desserts.

These were two failed candy making attempts. The fudge, actually came out as toffee. That was interesting. The cinder toffee was just bad.

After these two attempts, I finally realized that my candy thermometer is not working properly. When I was making the cinder toffee I could tell when the sugar was ready. It smelled like it does when I make peanut brittle, but the thermometer said that it wasn’t there yet, so I waited and waited, and by the time the reading said it was ready, it was totally burned.

Oh well, you live and learn. I’m going to get a new thermometer and try these again, because they looked really promising. Also, the cider toffee is hilarious to make. If you try this, use the biggest pot you have. When you put the bicarbonate of soda in, it’s like a scene from “The Blob”. No joke, it grows and grows and it’s fast and totally out of control. Even after you mix it and pour it out on the tray, it still keeps growing. I thought it was going to take over my whole house.

I won the battle in the end, though it tasted awful and burned, but it didn’t eat anybody.

When I get a new Thermometer, I will try these again, and let you know if they come out better.