Peppermint Glass

 

 Technically this recipe is for peppermint candy canes, not peppermint glass, but I only got two canes made before the rest of the candy hardened so I had to break it up like this. I am a first time sugar-sculpture-maker and I imagine a lot of you might be too, but if you aren't, then this is a candy cane recipe!

 

First, grease two baking sheets with about one teaspoon of butter.

 

 

Next, bring one cup of sugar, one cup of water, one cup of light corn syrup and 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar to a boil. Stir them together when you first add them, but do not stir them while they are heating. The recipe I used didn't give any specific directions about heating--it just said to bring it to 280 degrees. I got worried because for the first several minutes, I couldn't bring it beyond 225 degrees. This is where the science of cooking kicks in. As the water boils away and the concentration of sugar increases, so does the temperature. Because of this process, it does take about twenty minutes from when the mixture begins to boil and when it reaches 280 degrees.

To speed the process along, I pulled out the thermometer and covered the pan until I saw the boiling increase dramatically.

By the time it reaches 280 degrees, the bubbles should look like this. Remove the pan from the heat.

 Stir in 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract and 6 drops of red food coloring. You should be moving very quickly at this point because every second counts when it comes to shaping the candy.

 

As you can see, I didn't do a great job with pouring. It is difficult to pour evenly in a hurry. I would suggest pouring thinner lines to get thinner peppermint canes if that is what you want. If you just want glass, it doesn't matter! And it still tastes good.

 

Wait one minute to start rolling to cool the candy enough that it won't burn you. It should still be warm though. I waited two minutes and that was too long to get it all rolled.

Here is my candy cane attempt.

This is my husband's.

 

After we finished those, the candy just broke when we rolled it, so we snapped it into bite sized pieces. It's difficult to bite apart, so make sure the pieces are small enough to fit in your mouth. Enjoy!