Prep School Daily: Seven Snow Candy Recipes

I know wars and disasters are coming. It’s prophesied throughout the scriptures. And for that reason, I’m normally pretty calm about what’s going on in the world. But all the nonsense going on between us and Russia and China apparently got to me this morning, and I needed to get my mind off of it. Clearly I needed to spend some time messing around in the kitchen.

I started collecting snow candy recipes a few weeks back, and then we didn’t get any snow at all. Yeah, we still had quite a bit in the yard that hadn’t melted yet, despite the unseasonably warm temperatures. However, none of it could rightly be termed food safe. And then, wonder of wonders, last night the “10% chance of little to no snow accumulation” for our forecast yielded a couple of inches of the fluffy white stuff. So I got the morning chores done and made a beeline for the kitchen.

I’d always been enthralled by Laura Ingalls Wilder’s account of her mother making snow candy, but I’d never actually gotten around to it myself. Probably because I knew my husband would frown upon wasting valuable maple syrup making candy. And yes, he said as much to me. But no matter. I wanted to try it. I actually tried four different recipes. Here’s how they fared:

Note: For all candy options, first gather a pan of clean snow. Pack it down well and put the pans in the freezer while you cook the candy. Also, for all candy recipes be sure to adjust for altitude. If you do not have a candy thermometer, drip a little syrup into a glass of cold water. If the candy syrup becomes firm but pliable, it has reached soft ball stage, about 240°F. If it is hard and cracks, it is considered hard ball or hard crack, about 310°F.)

Maple Syrup Candy

¼ cup maple syrup

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, boil the syrup until it reaches 235°F on a candy thermometer. This should only take a couple of minutes.

As soon as the syrup reaches 235°F, remove it from the heat. Let cool a minute or so and then drizzle the hot syrup onto the snow. Let set for 2-3 minutes or until cool. This candy should be eaten immediately.

Family reviews: Tasty, easy, quick. It hardens in the snow but softens in your mouth to become sticky. It may not be good for someone with a lot of dental work. Also, the candy softens pretty quickly into syrup. It cannot be stored.

Maple Syrup Snow Candy

½ cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons butter

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring all of the ingredients to a boil. Cook until the syrup reaches 240°F (soft ball stage) for a soft candy. Cook until the thermometer reaches 310°F for a hard candy.

Immediately remove the syrup from the heat. Let cool a minute or so and then drizzle the hot syrup onto the snow. Let set for 2-3 minutes or until cool. This candy should be eaten immediately.

Family reviews: I pulled this off the heat when it reached 300°F, and it had already burned, even though I was constantly stirring it. I didn’t feel like trying this one again, so we can’t give an honest review.

Molasses Snow Candy

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup butter

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon water

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring all of the ingredients to a boil. Cook until the syrup reaches 240°F for a soft candy. Cook until the thermometer reaches 310°F for a hard candy.

Immediately remove the syrup from the heat. Let cool a minute or so and then drizzle the hot syrup onto the snow. Let set for 2-3 minutes or until cool. This candy should be eaten immediately.

Family reviews: We weren’t impressed with this one, either.

Snow Toffee

1 cup brown sugar, packed

¼ cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, bring all ingredients to a rolling boil. When the temperature reaches 300°F, or hard ball stage. Remove from heat, let cool a minute, and then drizzle over the snow. Let cool. The candy will keep in a cool, dry place for a few days.

Family reviews: Belle thought it tasted fine. The rest of us didn’t like it very much.

After four batches of candy that I didn’t like very much, I’d had enough of a sugar buzz. Here are three more recipes that I came across but didn’t feel like trying out.

Molasses on Snow Candy

1 cup dark molasses

½ cup brown sugar

In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, bring the molasses and brown sugar to a boil. Stir frequently to prevent burning and cook until the syrup reaches 240°F, soft ball stage. Let cool one minute and then drizzle over the snow.

For Honey on Snow Candy, substitute hone for the molasses and powdered sugar for the brown sugar.

Sugar Candy

1 cup sugar

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Drizzle the caramel syrup over the snow.

So after making all this candy and subjecting the guinea pigs to torture, here are our final reviews and observations:

1. The first maple syrup candy was actually our favorite. Everything kind of went downhill from there. It was also definitely the prettiest. It would look nice drizzled over ice cream.

2. For the amount of time I spent making sub-standard candy, I could have spent a little more time and made a much nicer treat.

3. Little children would like most of these candies just fine. Their candy standards aren’t that high. However, teens and adults have more refined palates. It’s a shame to waste good butter or sugar on something that people aren’t going to like that much.

Classic Temperature Tests for Making Candy without a Candy Thermometer

For all tests, drop a small amount of syrup into a glass of very cold water.
Soft ball 234-240°F forms a ball that flattens when removed from the water.
Hard ball 250-265°F forms a ball that will not flatten unless pressed.
Soft crack 270-290°F a small amount of syrup can be pulled apart and will separate into hard threads that bend.
Hard crack 300-310°F a small amount of syrup can be pulled apart and will separate into hard threads that crack when bent.
Subtract 1°F from the target temperature for every 500 feet above sea level.