A Sweet Bit of Heritage

It's May and in Bermuda that means it is heritage month and tomorrow, May 24  is Bermuda Day.

In preparation for the holiday we spent part of our group time last week reading and talking about our Bermuda heritage so I thought it would be fun to make a traditional Bermudian treat that I loved as a child.

The kids were excited that we would be making our own candy... what kid wouldn't be excited about that!!   They helped by measuring the ingredients and greasing the muffin pans They enjoyed keeping track of the candy themometer, reporting each time it reached another 5 degrees.  

This was the first time I had made it and it was easy... I followed the recipe exactly and had no surprises.  The hardest part for the kids was waiting for the candy to cool and harden.. all I heard all morning was, "Is it done yet?" and "When is it going to be ready?"  But I think they would agree that when they finally got to taste it it was worth the wait!

Here is the recipe I used:


Glass Candy
(from "What's Cooking in Bermuda by Betsy Ross)


3 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp butter
food colouring (we used blue but the candy turned out a greenish blue)
flavouring (we used lemon which didn't really change the taste much)
pinch of salt

Place sugar, water and vinegar in a pot over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved.  Boil gently without stirring 20 minutes.  Add butter.   Continue cooking for about another 10 minutes until crack stage is reached, 290 degrees on a candy thermometer.  At this temperature tbe mixture will become brittle when a little is dropped into cold water.

Remove from stove.  Stir in salt and desired flavouring and food colouring without scraping the sides of the pot with the spoon.

Pour about 1/8inch thickness into about 20 muffin tins (I used mini muffin tins filled about 1 inch) that have been well greased with shortening (not butter).  When cool turn pan upside down on table and with a few taps (or big hard bangs in our case) the candies will fall out.  Wrap individually in wax paper.


Enjoy!

Happy Bermuda Day!!