I made that!

I know it’s been a little while since my last post. I went on a much needed vacation to Seattle with some girlfriends for a little girl’s weekend. A 5 day weekend, but a weekend non the less. Two of my friends were the architects for the new Delancey pizzeria (if you read the blog Orangette, you’ve probably already heard of it) in the Ballard neighborhood and we were itching to check it out. I’m happy to report the pizza and the restaurant were amazing, as well as the entire city of Seattle, which stole my heart. It was my first time there and hopefully I’ll be returning soon.

But back here in San Francisco, it’s Halloween! I actually am not motivated at all this year, so instead of partying with my friends, (I have to get up early and I’m old and lazy! Stop judging me!) I’m making candy corn. I’ve seen this recipe floating around on the web and have been curious, so it was good timing.

I started by boiling granulated sugar, corn syrup and butter for about 5-6 minutes. I mixed in some vanilla and let it cool for 15 minutes.

While that was cooling, I sifted together powdered sugar, powdered milk and salt in a large bowl.

I poured in the warm sugar mixture.

I kneaded until it was a smooth dough.

Then I split it into 3 parts and mixed in some food coloring.

I rolled the dough into thin ropes and pressed the 3 colors together.

Then I sliced them into triangles.

And then spent an embarrassing amount of time squishing each little piece together. Since I lost steam pretty fast, John came to the rescue. It made a certain amount of sense, since he’s the one that will be feasting on these little sugar bombs for the next week!

UPDATE: We’ve had 3 little kiddies visit us for our homemade candy! That alone was worth it!

CANDY CORN RECIPE:

yields aprox. 300 3/4-inch pieces

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup powdered milk

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

10-40 drops red and yellow food coloring

– Heat white sugar, corn syrup and butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir until all ingredients are dissolved. Turn heat to high until mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and let bubble (uncovered) for 5 minutes.

– Stir in vanilla extract and remove from heat. Allow to cool until warm to the touch (about 15 minutes).

– In a large bowl sift powdered sugar, powdered milk and salt. Add cooled mixture from sauce pan and stir until it’s too thick. Begin to work with your hands and knead the dough until all of the powdered sugar have been absorbed.

– Divide dough into 3 sections, make a dent in 2 pieces and add 20 drops of yellow food coloring to each. In one of those, add 9 drops of red food coloring to create orange. Mix each until colors are even throughout.

– To make candy corns, eyeball 1/8th of the dough from each piece. Roll each color into long ropes and press together. Cut with a bench scraper or knife and smoosh the seams together. John reported good luck with microwaving them in short bursts to keep the dough warm. Allow the candy to cool and air dry.

– Once dry, store in an airtight container.