Return to The Crafty Granny's Family Cookbook

HARD TAC CANDY

1 ½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ cup white Karo
food coloring
OILS - peppermint, cinnamon, clove, anise, lemon, spearmint --of choice, NOT flavors, must be OILS. Can be bought at drug stores, and specialty shops.

Butter two dinner plates well. Use Iron Stone or pottery. Combine sugar, syrup, water and color in Iron pot. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly till sugar is desolved. When boiling, insert candy thermometer and cook without stiring until Hard Crack stage. (300.) Remove from heat and stir in desired oil, ½ to 1 tsp. Depending on the strength of the oil. Quickly pour into the prepared plates. When edges begin to cool (in only 3 to 4 minutes) and set, lift and cut with buttered kitchen shears in strips, and then into very small pieces. Make only one batch at a time. As it doesn't come out right if you double this recipe. Makes ½ pound candy. Let dry and harden, about 10 minutes, then dust lightly with corn starch, to prevent sticking.

Our family gets together every year after Thanksgiving to make this our special Christmas candy for gifts. We always have a wonderful time doing it, as we have a system as an assembly line setup. One always sits at the stove, and does the cooking, one butters the plates, and washes the utensils as needed, one helps scrape the pot of the candy onto the plate, then one - two - three are so do the cutting,, depending on how many can come that day. We put lots of butter on our fingers to keep from burning them, as the candy must be hot to work with it. Some wear rubber gloves, and since we are working so fast, someone almost always cuts off the end of their glove! But to date, no one has ever got the finger. There is lots of laughter and horse play, we all look forward to this special time of the year, and have done so for at least 30 years now.