Re-cooking Candy (or fixing oops!)

 

One of the reasons we are afraid of trying something new is the fear of making mistakes and wasting the ingredients that we have spent money on.  I am going to show you that other than totally burning the candy to charcoal, you can save the ingredients and have success.  

 When you’re making candy the problems you may have are undercooking, overcooking or having the candy go grainy.  I have experimented with the goofs that I have made and have been surprised to see them turn out.

Overcooking:  The best way to take care of this is to have a reliable thermometer and to watch the thermometer and remove the candy from the heat when it is at the desired temperature.  What happens is that sometimes we may get distracted or it cooks faster than we realized and the temperature is much higher than we want (I’m going from personal experience).  To remedy this, quickly add  ½ cup of water for a water based candy or 1/2 cup of cream for a cream based candy.  Stir this in and this will lower the temperature of the candy to where you can get a second chance to watch it closely and cook it to the proper temperature.

Undercooking or going grainy:  This won’t show up until after the candy is cooked and cooled but, no fear, we can re-cook it and still have it turn out and not waste the ingredients.  Fondant and butter mints are candies that can go grainy and I have re-cooked.  The butter-mints have turned out even better when I re-cooked them. 

I had an experience during a candy class I was teaching where the participants doubled the amount of sugar in a toffee recipe.  I wasn’t aware of the mistake until after it was made and poured the candy on a cookie sheet to cool.  I noticed the batch filled the pan more that usual and that it was grainy.  I had never re-cooked toffee before and wasn’t sure how it would turn out.  Since the sugar was doubled we added more butter and water to also make it double and then re-cooked it.  It turned out just fine.

I recently had a batch of toffee that I had under cooked and was too sticky to chew, so I decided to try re-cooking it.  I wasn’t quite sure how it would melt or turn out because of the texture.  Grainy candy is almost like working with sugar and melts quite easily when the liquid is added.  This was solid and not grainy.  I figure that I have nothing to lose.  I’m going to take you through the process of re-cooking with this batch.  I’ll tell you now, it was successful and turned out great. 

Just a note: anything that is re-cooked will be slightly darker in color.

Break up the candy you will be re-cooking in a heavy-bottomed aluminum pan.

This toffee is water based and this batch was a double batch.  I added about 1-½ cups water. 

If it is a water based candy, add 1 cup of water.  If it is a cream based candy, add ½ cup of cream.

Over med heat, slowly melt the candy stirring occasionally.   You can adjust the temperature as needed to melt the candy but not boil. 

 I have a ceramic top stove.  They tend to be cooler than coil or gas stoves (adjust the temperature according to your stove).  You don’t want the candy to boil until it is melted so adjust the temperature up or down as needed until the candy is melted.

Once it is melted, increase the temperature to medium-high or high heat (or the temperature your stove needs to keep the candy at a full rolling boil).  Clip on a candy thermometer and cook it just like you would normally do for that recipe.  Make sure and watch the temperature closely. 

I rely on the thermometer for all my candy, but toffee is one that I like to use the water test to double check.   The trick to toffee is to get it nice and crunchy and not stick to your teeth.  When it gets to the temperature I want, I have a cold cup of water on hand and drop in a spoonful of the candy.  When it is to that crunchy stage, you will hear it pop a little when you drop it in the water and you can also pull it out of the water and test its texture. 

This is the finished, re-cooked toffee.  I score the toffee when it is cooled slightly so it will break apart easily in uniform squares.  When it is cooled you can dip it in chocolate. 

I was very surprised and pleased how it turned out.  Just goes to show you can re-cook about any candy.

The only thing left to do now is dip it in Peter's chocolate.

     
Go for it!  You have nothing to lose.