Divinity

I haven't lived in my mother's house for a good, oh... (looking skyward, chin in palm), well, I guess it's been 25 years (wow!). Come to think of it, we haven't lived in the same town in as many years either.

One constant in the time since I've been on my own is that every time mom and I visit each other we say "oooh, we should make divinity!" It goes back to my childhood and all of those times we'd get a hankering for the utterly sweet, soft, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth candy. I'm pretty sure divinity is the primary reason my mom had a Kitchenaid mixer way back before it was trendy and cool and they came in a rainbow of colors.

But, alas, it seems that mom and I rarely get around to actually making divinity. We talk about it, allright. But doing it... just doesn't seem to happen. I'd say we finally get around to it, on average, every 10 years.


Welp, I guess it's been 10 years since the last time. We were due for the excited watching and waiting while the Kitchenaid whipped the bejeezus out of the egg whites and sugar syrup. We were due for the mad scramble to scoop the candy out of the bowl into neat little clouds before it started to get thick and uncooperative.

Due for a little taste of heaven in our mouths. Mmmmm... words can't describe how I feel about divinity. "Love" is not too strong a word.


We've always followed the basic Divinity recipe from my tattered and checkered Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. You can also find it online ---> here.

A few words of advice if you decide to give this a whirl: divinity is perfect when flavored with almond extract... if you're a fan of almond extract, that is. A few drops of food coloring give it a lovely pastel color. And when it comes time to scoop the candy out onto waxed paper... you need to get your groove on, people. No dallying allowed or you'll be left with crusty (although still delicious) blobs rather than smooth swirly divine-ness. Finally, be warned, it's quite sweet and probably best left to serious sweet tooths like me and mom.

As a side note, I plan to try a batch of home-made marshmallows, for comparison. I suspect the two candies are similar. In looking at the recipe, the major difference is the gelatin in the marshmallows. Maybe the marshmallows are more chewy? Worth a test batch, I'd say.

So anyway, if you try your hand at divinity, give me a holler. I'd love to hear if you adore it like I do.