How To Make Yummy Hot & Spicy Rubies & Cool Licorice Emeralds 

        Every Christmas season since I was about twelve years old, we have a tradition, no matter where I am or what’s happening in our lives; we make the age old recipe for hard candy.  While the process is reviled by many and seemingly elusive to most, we have found a veritably comfortable albeit messy at times process for the creation of the sweets that never fail to warm the heart this time of year.

            To start off with, you need the necessary paraphernalia akin to a set on the series ‘Fringe’.   Pots, cookie sheets and latex surgical gloves (if you’re planning on coloring your candy- or working with the “Loran’s” cinnamon concentrated flavoring oils.  I will cover more on the cinnamon flavoring later.  Get a surplus of sugar, a bunch of bottles of light corn syrup (if you wish to make a lot of candy for yourself or if your lucky enough to have a lot of friends) and water~ with lots o’ love (appropriate for the season).

            To begin get a medium size sauce pan (do not spray the pan)  and put in 3 ¾   cups of sugar- (I know but you can brush your teeth later), then apply 1 ½ cups of corn syrup then add the water with the love…  (the love you really should apply throughout the whole process, unless your really crabby whereas you shouldn’t be cooking / baking at all then really ya Scrooge).

            Make sure the sugar is well dissolved by folding (not stirring- never stirring) as folding seems to get your there quicker with the sludge of the wonderful sugar!  Set one of your burners on the stove for medium heat- and bring your sugar sludge to a boil. 

            Now your most important tool will be a cooking thermometer- as if you don’t have one or get one, you’ll be relegated to judge the readiness of your candy to come off the heat like the poor people did at the turn of the century by dropping a bit of it into cold water to see if it hardens.  No no no- don’t put yourself through that and just get a damn thermometer and simply wait until the temp reaches 310 degrees.  You live in the modern world, not Victorian England.  When it reaches 310, immediately take it off the burner and set it aside- now the fun part.  This is when it takes several different paths;                                                                                        If you desire any other flavor- just add it/dump the flavoring oil of your choice (preferably ‘Loran’s concentrated oils found in most drug stores or most department stores).  BUT if you desire cinnamon -

a word of caution;

 the oil for the cinnamon is a dangerous thing and must not be taken lightly.  When I was a boy, working with this highly volatile substance was a sensitive thing.  When you get it on your hands (and you will)- do NOT, I repeat- do NOT tough your face!  It will burn in a way that is never ending and you will end up spending more time applying ice to your skin than getting your candy made.  I recommend wearing latex gloves, provided you have no allergies and can stand the smell.  Or also, it’s simply because of the dye in the food coloring later.  I still have pink hands from handling my batch from yesterday.   I use red for cinnamon and green for anise (which is basically tastes like licorice, that I have found most people hate; MORE FOR ME!!!).  This makes the combo of your candy look very much like rubies and emeralds when your done (hence my very witty title). 

            Or don’t use food coloring at all which is really boring and totally not in line with the aesthetics of the holiday.   The most important factoid about adding the flavoring is the need for the syrup to hold in the flavor whatever your choice was- cinnamon, anise, peppermint, etc…   Make sure your pan has a lid and once the boiling ceases, dump in the food coloring first as this causes a lot of steam to rise- (if you add the flavoring in first and then the color, you’ll lose a lot of flavor and strength of the cinnamon with the escaping steam) – so add the flavoring in increments as you stir it in after each dump- or spread the whole contents of the vial around evenly and stir.  I use two vials- each at a time with an even stir and wait with pan covered for about a couple minutes.  COVER THE PAN for a few minutes then wait until it has a consistency of molten lava and get your lined cookie sheet out (preferably ‘no stick’ tin foil) and pour. 

The cutter I have found that works the best is a pizza cutter.  A knife sticks when the candy starts to harden.  One thing that is most important when cutting is knowing how long to wait; you cut too soon, you’ll might as well try to cut pudding / you wait to long- you might as well just take a chisel and you’ll have chunks instead of nice squares or shapes of your choice.  Wait til a good deep score can be held by the candy for a while, then leave it to cool.  Later you can flip the hardened sheet and break the pieces nice and even.

Now your broken candy is complete and ready to package in nice very cool neato gift boxes that smell purdy. (and if you made strong enough cinnamon, you can watch your friends reel at the hotness of the surprising and alarmingly fire like burn and enjoy the fun). 

Happy holidays to all- and to all a good night! enjoy yer candy and don’t use to much cinnamon!