Brown Candy

Make Delicious Homemade Candies With These Recipes: Penuche, Chocolate Dipped and Pistachio Divinity

You can impress your family and friends with your own homemade candies.  And for yourself, there is just nothing like a tasty bite of candy you made!  The recipes in this article offer a choice of completely different types of candies to choose from.  There is sure to be one to please you and your family and/or friends.

PECAN PENUCHE
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
dash of salt
2 tbsp butter flavored shortening*
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Lightly grease an 8-inch loaf pan; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cream, and salt. Heat to boiling, over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cover and boil for 1 minute. Remove lid. Insert candy thermometer and cook over medium heat, without stirring, until temperature reaches 236 degrees. Remove from heat.

Add the shortening but do not stir. Cool, undisturbed, until temperature is lowered to 120 degrees. Add the vanilla and beat vigorously until mixture starts to thicken and loses its sheen. Stir in pecans. Spread in the prepared pan. Cut into 1-inch squares. Cool until firm.

Note: Make orange-flavored penuche by adding 1 tablespoon grated orange rind when you add the shortening.

*You may substitute butter for the shortening.

ANGEL’S CANDY
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp baking soda
1 lb chocolate almond bark

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine and cook the sugar, corn syrup, and vinegar. Stir constantly, cooking until the sugar dissolves. Cook without stirring until the temperature reaches 300 degrees or the hard crack stage. Do not overcook (use a candy thermometer if at all possible). Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the baking soda. Pour mixture into a buttered 9 x 13-inch pan. Do not spread; mixture will not fill the entire pan. When candy has cooled, break into bite size pieces. Melt the chocolate bark in the microwave until completely melted. Stir after 1 minute. If not melted, stir again after 30 seconds and repeat until melted. Dip pieces into the melted chocolate bark and place on waxed paper. Let sit until the chocolate is firm. Store in a cool place in a tightly sealed container.

Yield: approximately 1 1/2 lbs.

PISTACHIO DIVINITY
This recipe is from an old Kansas newspaper clipping.

2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pistachios

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water; stir just until the sugar is dissolves. Cook to 260 degrees on a candy thermometer (hard ball stage). While sugar mixture cooks, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. While beating at high speed, gradually pour the sugar mixture over the egg whites. Add the vanilla and beat until the candy loses its gloss and holds its shape. Quickly add the nuts and mix well. Quickly spoon teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper covered cookie sheets.

Yield: about 3 dozen pieces

Enjoy.

About the Author

For more of Linda’s candy and other sweets recipes go to her blog at http://ladybugssweettreats.blogspot.com  For diabetic sweets visit her blog at http://diabeticenjoyingfood.blogspot.com

Foxy Brown—I Taste Just Like Candy

FoodSaver T03-0023-01 Wide-Mouth Jar Sealer $6.99 Enables the FoodSaver? to vacuum packageMason jars. Perfect for liquid and other?fragile? foods and storing dry goods….

Wilton 2104-9008 Chocolate Pro 3-Tier Chocolate Fountain $59.99 Serve melted chocolate with style and finesse with the Chocolate Pro fountain by Wilton. Using three tiers, this electric fountain holds up to four pounds of chocolate and continuously flows down the levels, allowing you to dip your snacks and fruits. It is great for parties and gatherings, and really makes your party more distinguished….

Anchor Hocking 1-Gallon Heritage Hill Jar with Glass Lid $12.50 These storage jars are great to keep candy, cookies, snacks, and even pet treats. Crystal glass jar with glass cover….

The Blues Brothers (Widescreen 25th Anniversary Edition) $5.93 Bringing their “SNL” characters to the big screen, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd are Jake and Elwood Blues, two ex-con, music-loving brothers out to reunite their old band so they can raise money to save the Chicago orphanage where they grew up. Filled with wild car chases and songs from such guest stars as James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin, John Landis’ high-octane comedy…

Baby Boy (Special Edition) $3.99 Director John Singleton returns to the South Central L.A. of “Boyz N the Hood” with this compelling drama about a jobless 20-year-old African-American man (Tyrese Gibson) who has fathered two children with two different women and lives at home with his mother (A.J. Johnson). When her new ex-con boyfriend (Ving Rhames) moves in, Gibson must make some major decisions about his life. With Tamara Bass…

New Edition $2.62 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed….

Canadian Bacon [VHS] $9.94 Fresh from the success of Roger and Me, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore made the mistake of trying his hand at fiction film. Hoping to satirize America’s leap into the Gulf War (and its abandonment of its industrial base), he wrote and directed this disappointing comedy, which fell flat despite a cast that included Alan Alda, Rip Torn, Rhea Perlman, John Candy, and Kevin Pollak. The premise is…

The Blues Brothers [VHS] $1.99 After building up the duo’s popularity through popular recordings and several performances on Saturday Night Live, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd–as “legendary” Chicago blues brothers Jake and Elwood Blues–took their act to the big screen in this action-packed hit from 1980. As Jake and Elwood struggle to reunite their old band and save the Chicago orphanage where they were raised, they wreak enou…

Uncle Buck [VHS] $2.55 John Candy has one of his finest opportunities in this film by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club) about a perpetual screw-up (Candy) who gets his act together enough to watch over his brother’s kids effectively. The late actor scores big points resurrecting elements of his more decadent persona from SCTV days, but he also has some persuasively touching, sentimental moments. Hughes’s direction is not…

Uncle Buck $3.29 John Candy has one of his finest opportunities in this film by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club) about a perpetual screw-up (Candy) who gets his act together enough to watch over his brother’s kids effectively. The late actor scores big points resurrecting elements of his more decadent persona from SCTV days, but he also has some persuasively touching, sentimental moments. Hughes’s direction is not…