Photos courtesy of Angie Wolford.
Ingredients for 12 batches
- 11 lb granulated sugar
- 64 oz Karo syrup
- 1/4 C water
Ingredients for 4 batches
- 4 lb granulated sugar
- 24 oz Karo syrup
- 1 TBL water
Ingredients for 1 batch
- 1 lb granulated sugar (approx 2 C)
- 6 oz Karo syrup
- 1 tsp water
Optional: Oil Flavoring and Food Coloring
Step by Step
- Mix corn syrup and sugar (corn syrup will help keep the sugar from crystallizing)
- Cook on low heat until sugar is completely liquefied.
- Use an immersible candy thermometer to monitor your temperature.
THIS IS WHAT I USE and it works great. Great for perfectly cooking meats too. - Stir fairly frequently with a wooden spoon.
- Stop stirring when everything is completely dissolved.
- At 260º add your food coloring, but don’t mix it. Let the bubbles do the mixing.
Yellow for l
emon, red for cinnamon, black for licorice, blue for… well, you get it. - Increase heat to high and heat until mixture is AT LEAST 300º but no more than 310º
– This temperature is called CRACK, and it is when the crystals become rigid. It will boil for quite awhile before the temperature gets to 300º but be patient – the high temperature is necessary, or you will have sticky hard caramel kind of things. - Pour onto a lightly buttered marble slab (or Coreon slab) and use a bench knife to keep the molten from spilling onto the floor. You can also use a very large silicone mat. BE CAREFUL. THIS MIXTURE WILL BURN YOU TO THE BONE
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SPECIAL NOTE: Alternately, you can use old cookie baking sheets with edges. Don’t use nice new ones, because they will take a beating in a little while. If you do it this way, let the mixture come to a NON-BOILING STATE before you add the flavor oil. Mix it in, then pour it onto your baking sheet.
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Another alternative, just use heavy duty aluminum foil.
– - Pour in flavoring oil and continue to fold the edges to the middle of the mass
- AS SOON as it can be handled without raising blisters, use a poultry scissors, cut into strips, then into pieces.
- Drop pieces into a bowl with 1 C confectioner sugar
- Toss until coated, then sift out and put onto a newspaper to cool.
If you go with the baking sheet method, let it cool completely ON THE COUNTER and then whack it with a small hammer and clean screw driver to shatter the pieces into whatever size you desire. Discard the dust, and keep only the pieces.
