Maple Cream Candy

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup pure maple syrup (use syrup labeled "dark amber"â??the darker, the better!)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup walnut pieces or 1 cup pecan pieces, toasted

Recipe

• 1 lightly oil a 9- by 9-inch square pan, or a baking sheet.
• 2 in a small heavy-duty saucepan (about 2 quarts) mix together the maple syrup, sugar, cream, and corn syrup.
• 3 fit a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and heat until the temperature reaches 236 degrees, tilting the pan to submerge the bulb, if necessary, to gauge the correct temperature.
• 4 remove the pan from the heat and transfer the mixture into the metal bowl of a standing electric mixer.
• 5 submerge the thermometer in the candy mixture until it has cooled to 110 degrees, which will take a while.
• 6 (tip: you can put the bottom of the bowl in ice water to speed up the process; but don’t stir the mixture to cool it down).
• 7 when the temperature is 110 degrees, add the vanilla and beat the mixture until it just begins to thicken and loose its gloss.
• 8 overmixing will make it grainy, so keep an eye on it.
• 9 stir in the nuts and spread the mixture into the square pan or onto the baking sheet, forming it into a 9-inch square with your (clean) hands.
• 10 allow to cool completely, then remove from the pan and cut into squares.
• 11 to remove it from a square pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen it, then cut it in half.
• 12 use a metal spatula to pry the candy loose a bit (it will be flexible).
• 13 invert the pan a shake it to coax the maple cream candy out.