How to Make Hard Tack Candy

Hard tack candy is wonderfully versatile — it can be customized with any flavor and coloring combination you choose. Although cinnamon, peppermint and lime oils make classic hard candies, you can find flavors that mimic anything from a root beer float to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Although this recipe is fairly simple, go slow and keep a close eye on things — making hard tack candy requires precision and care.

Things You'll Need

• Marble slab cutting board, at least 9 by 11 inches
• Several cookie sheets with high sides
• Cooking spray
• 4-quart saucepan with high sides
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• Candy thermometer
• Food coloring
• Color mixing chart
• Variety of candy flavorings
• Metal spoon
• Kitchen shears
• Clean towels
• Powdered sugar
• Hammer or kitchen mallet

Instructions

Making the Candy

1. Spray all pans and the marble slab with cooking spray.

2. In a 4-quart saucepan with high sides, mix together 1 cup light corn syrup, 3 cups sugar
   and 1 cup water. Do not double-batch. Make one batch at a time of one color and flavor.

3. Bring candy mixture to a rolling boil. Using a candy thermometer that is not touching the bottom of the pan, check the temperature. When it reaches 260 degrees Fahrenheit, add coloring of your choosing. If you're not using a candy thermometer, drip a little candy mixture into cold water — if it forms a ball it's ready for the food coloring. Do not stir. The boiling action will mix the color.

4. Continue boiling until candy reaches the hard crack stage: 300 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are not using a candy thermometer, at this point, the candy should form threads when spooned up from the pan or when dripped into a cup of cold water. Add flavoring one drop at a time according to taste. Again, allow the boiling action to mix color and flavor — stirring can result in cloudy candy.

5. Pour the candy into the cookie sheets and spread it out with a metal spoon. Allow it to cool slightly and then cut the candy with kitchen shears before it cools completely. If it becomes too cool to cut, it will have to be broken apart.

Breaking the Candy

1. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the marble slab.

2. Put the candy on the slab and cover it with a towel before breaking. Wear eye protection such as safety goggles when breaking candy. Treat broken candy like broken glass.

3. Lightly hit the slab of candy with a hammer or mallet until it breaks into pieces. Shake the candy in a bag of powdered sugar, then lay it out on cookie sheets to finish drying and cooling. Store it in plastic zipper baggies or in tins lined with waxed paper.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do not have a marble cutting board, use trivets under a high-sided cookie sheet that has been well greased with cooking spray.

• Taste your cooking spray by spraying a little into your hand before using it to make candy. Some sprays have an unpleasant taste.

• Some candy flavorings are very strong. Test yours ahead of time and add to your taste.

• Immediately immerse all utensils and pans in warm water until the candy dissolves.

• Do not allow children or pets into kitchen while pouring or breaking candy.

• Do not attempt to lick or scrape pans or utensils after pouring candy. Unfinished candy can cause cuts deep enough to need stitches.

References

• "Who Wants Candy?"; Jane Sharrock