The Zelda Gourmet: Quest 8: Mermaid's Candy Necklace

Mermaids are secretive. So much so that one only really appears in LOZ Link's Awakening. However, there many other references to mermaids in both Oracle of Ages and Phantom Hourglass. In Link's Awakening, a mermaid, Martha, appears who is looking for her lost necklace. In exchange for her necklace, she will give you a scale from her tail. This is helpful to complete the trading sequence in the game. A fun thing I learned was that in the Japanese version it was actually a bikini top instead of a necklace. Today, in honor of Martha, we are going to make candy necklaces. These are pretty easy to make. Be sure to bring a little patience, so you may make burnt sugar instead.

Get the Printable Version of This Recipe Here!!!!

Gear!
Parchment paper
Cookie Sheet
Butcher's Twine
Scissors
Small Sauce Pan
Spatula
Candy Thermometer
1/2 white sugar
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
Food Coloring
Candy Flavorings
Teaspoon
Cooking Spray

Quest!

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cut pieces of twine. You can make them as long as you want.
I wasn't going to wear mine (just eat them) so I made them as long as the pan.
You may want to cut your longer if you want to tie them.

Now might be a good time to decide on a flavor. These are candy flavorings.
I purchased them at my local food co-op store.
For today, I am going to make Blueberry, Pina-Colada, so I will mix two flavors.
These come in tons of flavors you make whatever your heart desires.

In a small sauce, combine sugar and corn syrup. Why corn syrup?
As Alton Brown once said, "Think of it as candy insurance."
It helps with the crystallization.

If things don't want to come together like pictured above, then you can
add a splash of water to dissolve the sugar. The trade off with this is will
take longer to get to 302 degree F. because we will have to cook out the
water first.

Place your candy thermometer in the mixture and turn on the stove to MEDIUM.
Not, Medium high, - MEDIUM.
If you add too much heat too quickly, it will burn. You have been warned.

We will be working towards a goal of 302 degrees F as mentioned before.
This is known as hard crack. When done well, it will make a nice, glassy candy.

Don't stir. Stirring will make the stuff on the sides fall into the pot and will ruin the mixture.
Keep an eye on this!!

It will start to form some really good bubbles as it makes its way towards THREAD
(about 225 degrees F.) This is mostly water leaving the mixture.

When it makes it to THREAD, you will notice it kind of just hangs out here for what seems like forever.
This is normal. Remember the patience I mentioned. This is where is comes in.

And we wait . . .

And wait some more . . .

Until it finally starts to move. At this point you will definitely want to keep an
extra close eye on it. It will shoot up rather quickly.

In a small measuring spoon, I have 6 drops of Blueberry flavoring, 3 drops of Pina Colada
flavoring and 3 drops of blue food coloring at the ready for when we hit HARD CRACK.

Just about when you are half way between SOFT CRACK and HARD CRACK, turn the stove OFF!
It will continue to get hot and reach the HARD CRACK stage on its own.