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| The candy is translucent when held to the light. |
Fresh snow, like the 20 + inches that just landed on New York City, can conjure up images of sledding, shoveling and snow angels.
But for me, it means just one thing: A rare opportunity to make Molasses-on-Snow candy, a delicious treat whose essential ingredient is fresh, virginal snow. This candy, made popular by the Little House on the Prairie books, is a lot of fun to make, especially if you have a couple of young children around to watch the magic.
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| Pie pan filled with virginal snow. |
Subway service is suspended and our street is still not plowed (can anyone say snow day?), so I ventured outdoors this morning to fill two pie pans with snow.
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| Two of the candy's three ingredients: molasses and brown sugar mixed together. |
Next, I mixed 1/2 cup molasses and1/4 cup brown sugar together in a medium saucepan, turned on the fire and let it cook until it reached 245 F. (If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can drop a small amount of the syrup into a glass of cold water. When it forms a firm ball in the water, it's done.)
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| Stir often to prevent burning. |
Once the mixture reaches the right temperature, retrieve the pie pans of snow (which you've either kept outdoors or in the freezer) and transfer the candy mixture to a glass measuring cup.
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| Pour the candy syrup on the snow in any pattern you wish. |
Pour the hot candy syrup over the fresh snow in any pattern you wish. Let it set for a few minutes until the candy hardens. Remove from the snow, break into bite size pieces and praise the snowfall.
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| Candy as modern art. |
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| Laura and Mary (illustrated by Garth Williams) from the Little House Cookbook (from which this recipe is adapted. |
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