Divinity Candy - Soft, Chewy, Pillowy and Sweet - a Classic Southern Christmas Recipe. (2024)

FAQs

What is divinity candy made of? ›

Divinity is a confection made from egg whites, corn syrup, and sugar. It's similar to nougat, fudge, or marshmallow. Tip: replace the sugar with brown sugar to create "sea foam." Other ingredients can be used to give the candy other tastes, like chopped dried fruit and chopped nuts.

In a meringue, the sugar syrup is cooked to about 240°F or until the sugar forms a soft, malleable ball when a spoonful is dropped in cold water. For divinity, the sugar is taken a bit further to 250°F (or the firm ball stage) where it can hold more structure.

Divinity candy is an old-fashioned confection made with very simple ingredients such as sugar, egg whites, water, vanilla, and corn syrup. It is nougat-like in texture, but slightly lighter, and nuts, dried fruit, or candy are often added.

The exact origins of divinity candy are unclear, but it is believed to have originated in the Southern United States in the early 20th century. The candy's light and fluffy texture made it a popular confection for special occasions and celebrations.

Humidity equals wet, and wet equals candy that often won't set. Even in the cooler and less humid months, it can be a challenge to make old fashioned divinity - that being a divinity that is purely sugar, corn syrup, water, egg whites, chopped pecans, a little vanilla - and a goodly amount of elbow grease.

Much like it is when making meringues, the key to making a successful divinity has everything to do with the weather! If possible, always make divinity on a cool, dry day. As sugar attracts water, any humidity or moisture in the air can affect how your divinity turns out.

Corn Syrup – This is added to stop the sugar from crystalizing giving you a very smooth, chewy texture that's not grainy. Sugar – White granulated sugar is the best for this recipe, avoid brown sugar or it'll affect both the taste and look of the divinity.

It's a billowy light, super-sweet, airy candy confection and it tastes...well, divine. Hence the name.

The other way to “overcook” the divinity is to beat the egg white and syrup mixture too long. The mixture can become too dry and cool, then be crumbly.

Consider this: divinity hates humidity. It's best to make divinity on a cool, dry day. If it's humid (over 50%) or rainy, the candy might end up with a more gooey, or grainy texture.

What is Christmas nougat? ›

Christmas Nougats Mix. Essential holiday flavors of peppermint, wintergreen, and cinnamon come together to create Holiday magic in Brach's® Christmas Nougat Mix. Each piece of quality nougat is individually wrapped making it the perfect treat to fill up your candy dish or centerpieces.

Remember to watch the temperature of your divinity candy as it requires specific heat to make. Also once you let it rest and you have done the recipe correctly it will harden slightly but still retain its fluffy texture from the egg whites you used.

Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie in Salem is the oldest, continuously operated candy company in America, and much of its early history was rooted in Peabody. In 1806, Mrs. Spencer began selling gibralters, a hard sugar candy, from her wagon in Salem.

Old fashioned divinity is a vintage recipe for a meringue-based candy that I would describe as somewhere between fudge (even though there is no chocolate in most divinity, it is often even referred to as Divinity Fudge), nougat, and marshmallow.

Typically known as "divinity," this fudge is unlike your average. This is because it's a fluffy white or artificially tinted fudge. Whereas traditional fudge is made from your usual baking ingredients (sugar, butter, milk and cream) -- divinity is created out of sugar, corn syrup, egg whites, and artificial flavoring.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Divinity is a nougat-like confection made with whipped egg white, corn syrup, and sugar. Optional ingredients such as flavors, chopped dried fruit and chopped nuts are frequently added.

Divinity candy is made with light corn syrup, sugar, and stiff egg whites for a soft, nougat-like festive Southern treat! It's no surprise this traditional divinity candy recipe has stood the test of time. Made with basic ingredients you likely already have on hand, this easy-to-follow method is basically foolproof.