Cobweb Candy

It goes by many names; Dragons beard, Chinese cotton candy, silver silk candy or just hand-pulled cotton candy. However, in this spooky month of Halloween and with the addition of some gummy spiders, I present Cobweb Candy.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of white sugar
• 1/4 cup of glucose syrup or light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon of white vinegar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of corn flour, corn starch or rice flour
• Gummy spiders

Utensils:

• A candy thermometer
• Saucepan
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Round plastic containers

Add 2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup glucose syrup (corn syrup), 1 teaspoon vinegar and 1 cup of water to a saucepan.

Heat the mixture to 260°F (126°C).

Use the candy thermometer to make sure you reach this temperature.

It may take a while however wait until it reaches the required temperature and then remove from heat.

Pro tips:

Don't stir the mixture as stirring may cause sugar crystals to form. You can also brush the inside walls of the saucepan with water to prevent sugar crystals from forming.

After removing the saucepan from the stove at 260°F (126°C) it should continue to rise a bit to about 270°F (132°C). This is okay.

Let it cool to about 212°F (100°C) then transfer into the circular plastic containers.

Let them cool even further for a few hours until they are room temperature.

Sprinkle a generous amount of corn flour (corn starch or rice flour) onto a large plate or tray.

When your candy is room temperature it should be firm but still malleable.

Remove the candy from the mould. This may take some time and effort but keep working the edges of the container until the candy pops out.

Coat the candy block with the corn flour. Don't be afraid to get this all over your hands as it will prevent the candy from sticking.

Work the candy block with your fingers until you can push through a small hole in the centre. Your now ready to start the fun part.

This is where many people make mistakes (i mean happy accidents) and rush causing breaks.

Go slow.

Slowly and carefully stretch out the candy to make a hoop about half an arm's length.

Try to make it even with no thick or thin areas.

Twist the hoop in the middle and fold over making a circle with two layers.

Now repeat. Slowly stretch out your circle again until you think you have enough to twist and fold.

Stretch, twist, fold. Stretch, twist, fold.

Keep going with that pattern. Work slowly and carefully to make each strand the same thickness.

Watch the magic of exponential growth happen before your eyes. In only about 13 stretch-twist-fold's you will have roughly 16000 thin strands of candy.

Pro tip:

Keep applying more corn flour every stretch-twist-fold. The thinner the strands get, the more they want to stick together, especially in a humid environment.

Lay out a small bunch of the candy as seen in picture 1 above.

Carefully roll up a little bundle and cut it off. Repeat.

Traditional dragon's beard candy has a peanut mixture meant to be wrapped up in the middle. In these pictures i did not wrap up anything however keeping with the theme, perhaps some gummy worms or some other gummy bug would work well inside these cobweb candy bundles.

Place your cobweb candy bundles on a plate or serving tray and add some gummy spiders on top.

You could even make a larger pile with some spiders (last picture) or stretch the cobweb candy over your Halloween desert or treat table.

When you're done admiring your Cobweb Candy, don't forget that it's actually edible and treat yourself :)

Thanks for reading through my instructable and I hope I have inspired some of you with this idea for next Halloween.