Chocolate Hard Candy

Hello, everyone! If you like chocolate and you like hard candies, then this candy is for you! This is actually a taffy experiment gone brittle (and tasty!). Every time I make taffy it either turns out too gooey or too hard or too sticky, but the temperature I use isn't varying much (that's what you get for buying the cheapest candy thermometer you could find, dummy)! At least this attempt produced something edible and good for getting that supper after-taste out.

Here are a few things you'll need.

Ingredients:
1 cup of Granulated Sugar
2 tbs. of Cocoa Powder
1 tbs. of Cornstarch
1 tbs. of Unsalted Butter (plus some for non-sticking the pan)
2/3 cup of Corn Syrup
1/2 cup of water
1/4 ts. Salt
Powdered Sugar for de-sticking
Vanilla Extract to taste

Utensils:
Medium-small sauce pan
Wooden Spoon (preferably with a long handle)
Candy Thermometer
Small Glass Casserole Dish
Cutting Board
Food-Safe Gloves
Kitchen Scissors
Meat Tenderizer
Wax Paper


Yields about 25 candies.

First mix the dry ingredients together inside the sauce pan, then add the wet ingredients. Mixing the dry ingredients first insures that everything blends well. Also, butter your casserole dish.

Next, on a medium-high heat, mix everything together well. When the mixture fizzes up, turn the heat down a bit and continue to stir. After the temperature reaches about 210°f, the temperature might 'stick' a bit, but once it starts moving again, it will move pretty fast, so you have to keep an eye on it while it's cooking.

Once the mixture reaches the hard ball marker on your candy thermometer, pour it into the buttered casserole dish (always use oven mitts while handling hot pots and pans!). Pour a bit of vanilla extract over the candy and mix it in with a spoon. Next, pour some powdered sugar over the top of the candy and put it in the refrigerator to cool. Don't let it cool too long, or else you won't be able to take the candy out of the dish. For best results, take it out of the 'fridge while still warm.

If the taffy is still too hot to handle, use a meat tenderizer to push it around the dish and keep it from hardening. When it is cool enough to handle, form a ball with the candy and pull it like taffy a few times. Once it has firmed up a little bit, make a rope with the candy and use kitchen scissors to cut it into pieces. Wrap the pieces with wax paper and enjoy! These candies have a flavor similar to tootsie rolls and a consistency similar to hard candy, but after you suck on it for a while, it becomes slightly malleable. It is a great treat for hard candy and chocolate fans!

Edit: I've found that if you let the candies sit for about a week (assuming that they last that long), they soften a little and get like those soft mint candies.

WARNING!!! When I was pulling the candy, I seared some of my skin off, so use caution when handling hot candy, or, better yet, don't handle hot candy.