Candy canes

I will fully and readily admit that making your own candy canes is sort of a crazy thing to do. You can buy a pack of them in pretty much any flavor for about a dollar. This recipe will cost you more than that and will require much more work. All of that being said, these are still really fun to make and they are delicious. Plus there is just something sort of nice about making them from scratch and being able to control the flavor and color. I adapted this recipe from Taste of Home. Their recipe was great, but the instructions were lacking a few things that really helped the canes come together so I've done things my own way. A few suggestions: have all your equipment and ingredients ready before you start, use an accurate candy thermometer or learn how to test the temperature of candy using the cold water method, and finally pick up some latex gloves and some knit stretchy gloves and put them on before you attempt to pull the candy.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon flavored oil (or 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons extract) like cinnamon, vanilla, or peppermint

food coloring

Directions:

In a large, heavy bottomed pot combine the sugar, corn syrup, water, and cream of tartar together. Heat over medium-low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved, stop stirring completely. Clip a candy thermometer on the pot and heat the candy to 280 degrees (soft crack stage). Remove from heat and add flavoring. Divide the candy between two oiled cookie sheets. Add food coloring to one of the pans and stir to combine. Put on knit gloves, then put latex gloves on top of that. After the candy has cooled for about a minute or so pick up the non-colored candy and stretch and pull it for a while until it turns shiny and white. Place this back on the pan and pick up the colored candy. Stretch and pull it the same as you did for the white part. Once both have been stretched and are soft and pliable, press the colored part onto the white part and massage until they form one smooth log. Stretch and smooth that log until it forms a long, thin rope. Cut into smaller sections and twist each section so that the typical candy cane stripes appear. Cut into 4-6 inch lengths and curve the top around so that it forms a cane shape. Place on a plate and allow to dry for 24 hours before eating to prevent them from being sticky.