Aunt Dixie’s Divinity Recipe: A TEXAS KIND OF CHRISTMAS

Aunt Dixie’s Divinity (As written on the back of a birthday card envelope)

From Jodi Thomas
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • Dash of salt
Instructions
  1. Put 2 cups sugar, ½ cup water, and dash of salt in a heavy quart-size pan over medium heat.
  2. Bring to a boil. Should be rolling boil but not a crazy boil that climbs up the sides of the pan you’ll have a mess.
  3. Boil stirring most of the time and watching ALL the time for about 6 to 8 minutes until the mixture will go soft ball stage. (That means when you drop a drop of it in a small bowl of cold water, you can push it around with your finger and make a sloppy ball.) Once that happens, I usually let it boil for another minute just to make sure it’s ready.
  4. Next: Pour over marshmallow cream from a small jar (8 ounces), and start to mix on low for about 30 seconds, then kick it up to high for about 4-6 minutes. Sometime during this mixing, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
  5. Stop mixing when it starts to thicken, losses its shine, or the ripples the mixer makes stay up for three seconds.
  6. Add a cup of chopped nuts and make a few more rounds with the mixer
  7. Or: Wait and add a nut on top of each piece. May also add a cherry on top if you don’t like nuts.
  8. Using two spoons, drop candy on waxed paper.
  9. If the first few drops go flat, slow down a bit and give the candy time to cool a minute. Once the candy looks right coming of the spoon, move fast.
  10. This makes about three dozen candies. The first few will be flat, but they still taste just as good.
  11. The last few may be stiff so eat them first. If you decide to put the nut or cherry on top, be sure to dry the cherries on a paper towel first and put them on as soon as you drop all the candy.
  12. Never double the recipe. It won’t turn out.
Notes
Love you, kid, and remember, divinity is like birthdays, not every one turns out perfect.
- Aunt Dixie Kirkland