Maple Candy Recipe

[evilsunflower]

Just found this forum and I'm hoping that someone here can help me out with candy making.

This is my second year making maple sugar candy (the crunchy kind). All the recipes I've found online agree with the recipe in the North American Maple Producers Manual. They say to boil the syrup to 32-34 degrees above the boiling point of water, and then cool to between 200 and 160 before stirring. I've done it that way and every single time the darn stuff hardens up before I've had time to fill half my molds. I'm only doing about a cup of syrup at a time and I've tried varying the cool temperature from 200 to 160 and stirring for less time with similar results.

I talked to my husband's aunt, who used to make candy on a semi-commercial basis and she gave me a very different recipe. According to the book she used, you only boil the syrup up to 24 degrees above the boiling point of water, and then cool to 155 before stirring. Well I tried that the other day and lo and behold I had time to pour almost all my molds before it became difficult to work with. The candy came out a little bit softer, but still crunchy and just as tasty.

Has anyone else heard of doing it this way with the lower temperature? Is there a reason why all the current recipes use the higher temperatures? Are there long term affects I'm unaware of? Will my new candy not keep as well? It seems like there must be some reason that everyone is recommending higher temperatures when the lower temp recipe is so much easier to work with.

[evilsunflower]

no one here makes candy?

[gar]

I don't make candy but if you look at some of the other threads here you will see other reciepes for candy, or send a personal message to some of these guys that are making candy. I'm sure the will answer. Sorry I can't help.:emb:

[waysidemaple]

What I do is i start it boiling then i get a cold glass of watter that i can see through. every once and a while i let a drip fall into the glass, when it forms a solid flat ball and drops to the bottom of the glass i take that pot of the stove and put it in a bigger pot that has cold water in it. Then stir like mad. when it starts to set up dont panic, let it set up alittle and then go back to the stove. Put it on medium heat and reheat the candy, it will go back to a sort of liquid state after a minute or two of heat, once its soft again and pourable head for your mold or whatever you are pouring into. You should have a minute or 2 to pour what you have. If it hards up again heat it alittle and pour some more. Seems to work for me but this is my first year doing it.

[cncaboose]

The recipe I use for small batch candy making (also used by a bigtime local producer) is boil to 238-240 and cool to about 170, then stir. Cooling lower gives finer grain to the candy but less working time. Pour into molds when the crystals are just beginning to form giving the syrup a slight cloudiness. I start with 1 qt at a time, and split it into 2 pots for cooling and stirring, or it solidifies too fast. Makes about 2 pounds of candy. Don't make it harder than it is and after a few batches you'll find out what works for you. You don't even need the fancy rubber molds if you are just making it for home use. Just drop globs of it on wax paper.

[unclebuck]

I make about 45 pounds of molded sugar candy a year. I always boil to 243 degrees, then cool to 180 degrees. Do not move the pan with the syrup in it until it reaches 180 degrees, as you could cause crystallization to begin prematurely, which would affect the size of the crystals. At this time, start stirring the syrup under a bright light. You should be able to see through the syrup. As you continue to stir, the syrup will turn opaque (cloudy). As soon as you see the first swirl, pour immediately. As you are well aware, waiting too long will cause it to harden in the pan.

As far as boiling the syrup to 24 degrees above the boiling point of water, that is the high temperature for maple cream. To finish the cream off, cool it to around 70 degrees, then start stirring. The syrup will loosen up, then start to turn to cream. It will take a couple of people to stir it by hand, as it needs to be stirred for a lengthy amount of time. We also make about 75 pounds of maple cream each year.

Good luck. Hope this helps. We've made many mistakes in learning the process, but I could always find somebody to eat the mistakes.

Uncle Buck

[danno]

Thank you UncleBuck -

I used your Candy "recipe" today and made the best candy I've ever made. I've always stuggled with over or under, but this came out just right. I stirred 1st batch about 30 seconds too long and had to heat back up.

Cream, as usual, came out smooooth!

[MapleGal01]

We make at least 12 gallons of fondant maple candies a year.
We cook syrup to 24-26C over water boiling temp, then let cool to 180C before stirring. Then all hands on deck, one pours recipe on top of molds and two of us spreads recipe into molds, no time for breaks!
We now make 1 gallon at a time.
I'm purchasing a maple candy machine, can't wait to try it :)

[Browns Maple]

Uncle Buck,
My wife and I have never made the candy before so we tried your take on how to make it and came out flawless. Just wanted to thank you for your guidance in making this sweet treat. Good luck this season!

[unclebuck]

I'm glad so many people are learning how to make maple candy The recipe I gave was the culmination of many mistakes (but still taste good) Now we make it perfect all the time Hope everyone is having a great season

[Moser's Maple]

here is my method......I boil the syrup until 236...then stick it an ice bath in the kitchen sink until the syrup is around 110-120 degrees (yes that cool). Then i prefer the creamy sugar cakes so the method i have come to rely on is I use a Walmart purchased plastic paint stirrer connect to a power drill. I start to stir the syrup until it starts to set up, then i go dirrectly back to the stove and reheat the mix stirring so it does not burn on the stove until it is melted again. Then i pour into my molds. By letting the syrup cool and stirring until the set point you are creating a creamy sugar cake and not one of those tooth shattering cakes. Many people use machines and i have tried them but never had good luck with my cake quality from the machine. Some people may not agree with this method, but i have the blue ribbons that are proof that this works and is well received by others. I normally do 1/2 gal. batches and divide themamong 3 pans for my stirring. It can be labor intensive, but we mormally do 300 to 350 pounds during sugar season every year.

Jake

[maplefrank]

just tried this recipe........it is wonderful!!!!!!!!:):)

[waysidemaple]

Made some candy tonight

[crossfire7snopro]

i did your recipie (uncle buck) it worked great the first time. Now I screwed up! I did it again and I didnt stir it enough so it set up very wet. Overnight it hardend up so I could take it out of the mold. They melt very easy so I took them out remelted it and added more to the batch. Got it up to 243 then immediately jumped to 255. It cooled down to 180 when I started stirring. It turned opaque but never set. It is thick, gets a crust, but, thats it. Did i make butter? Is there a way i can get it back to candy?

[Sugarmaker]

Year two with a candy machine and I love it. We made several 1.5 gallon batches [12 lb of candy per batch] of syrup into candy for the March Taste and Tour, and most is long gone:) We heat light fresh syrup to 239-240 cool in pig to 200 F and start up the machine. It doesn't take long and the crystals are forming on the screw and the molds are being filled. We do not crystal coat at this time. Candy has a firm not hard crust and melt in your mouth center with very fine grain.
Chris

[DIMariner]

I make about 45 pounds of molded sugar candy a year. I always boil to 243 degrees, then cool to 180 degrees. Do not move the pan with the syrup in it until it reaches 180 degrees, as you could cause crystallization to begin prematurely, which would affect the size of the crystals. At this time, start stirring the syrup under a bright light. You should be able to see through the syrup. As you continue to stir, the syrup will turn opaque (cloudy). As soon as you see the first swirl, pour immediately. As you are well aware, waiting too long will cause it to harden in the pan.

First timer, never made candy before. I used this recipe and it worked like a charm. Two thumbs up from my three and a half year old taste tester- she was on a sugar high all evening. Thanks Uncle Buck.

[maple connection]

Moser's Maple
Thanks for your creamy candy recipe. I made some this morning. It was the first time I made candy. It turned out awesome, the only problem was I only got two pieces the rest was enjoyed by my family.:lol:

[unclebuck]

Originally Posted by unclebuck
I make about 45 pounds of molded sugar candy a year. I always boil to 243 degrees, then cool to 180 degrees. Do not move the pan with the syrup in it until it reaches 180 degrees, as you could cause crystallization to begin prematurely, which would affect the size of the crystals. At this time, start stirring the syrup under a bright light. You should be able to see through the syrup. As you continue to stir, the syrup will turn opaque (cloudy). As soon as you see the first swirl, pour immediately. As you are well aware, waiting too long will cause it to harden in the pan.

To all the maple people out there that have tried my recipe and commented on how easy it is to make maple candy congratts, This recipe is the gallons of tasty mistakes till finally getting it right. Hope everyone had a great season this year 2010 was the worst year i ever had in the 15 years of sugaring and 2011 was the best year i ever had go figure can't wait till 2012. Heading to bascolms this coming saturday for their open house and the 10% discount on equipment any savings is good

[whalems]

Mosher's Maple, Just tried your candy recipe. All I can say is AWESOME!!
Thanks for posting it, Mike