Holiday season is time for Aunt Bill’s Brown Candy
I’ve written it before, and I hope I get to write it again this time next year: Christmastime is when Oklahoma gets down with Brown.
December is when folks around here jones for a legendary local sweetmeat called Aunt Bill’s Brown Candy.
The holidays are a time for honesty and goodwill toward men, so I’m not going to promise you this recipe is easy to make. It ain’t.
If you have the need but not the time, The Woody Candy Co. has you covered.
But I can assure you this recipe is at least in part popular for how it brings friends and family together. Aunt Bills also is ideal for making in large batches. Furthermore, the candy is very rich, so bite-size pieces are preferred. A box of three or four with a ribbon and a card will spread holiday cheer.
If you’re new to the area, you might be struck by how such a color-free confection became associated with Christmas.
Like with most things, timing is everything. The tradition began Dec. 10, 1928, when Edna Vance Adams, writing under the pseudonym Aunt Susan, published the recipe.
Letters requesting a repeat of the recipe arrived about the same time the next year, which Aunt Susan honored. The tradition has continued during the holidays ever since, long after Edna Vance Adams became Edna Vance Adams Mueller and moved to New York.
In December 2008, renowned food blogger, author and Oklahoma native Molly Wizenberg took the recipe national in Bon Appetit magazine.
Below you’ll find the original recipe as written by Aunt Susan. Melba Lovelace has the quicker, easier microwave method in her column.
AUNT BILL’S BROWN CANDY
3 pints white sugar, divided
1 pint whole milk (or cream if you feel that way)
¼ pound butter
1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 pounds nut meats (preferably pecans)
To begin with, let me tell you that the full recipe makes more than 6 pounds of candy, so you see it is not as expensive as it may seem. You will find it much easier to manage if two of you are able to make it together, although of course this is not absolutely necessary for I’ve made loads of it alone.
First, pour one pint of the sugar into a heavy iron skillet and place it over low fire. Begin stirring with a wooden spoon and keep the sugar moving so that it will not scorch at all. It will take almost half an hour to completely melt all of the sugar, and at no time should it smoke or cook so fast that it turns dark. It should be about the color of light brown
sugar syrup.
As soon as you have the sugar started to heat in the skillet, pour the remaining two pints of sugar together with the pint of milk or cream into a deep heavy kettle and set it over a low fire to cook along slowly while you are melting the sugar in the skillet.
As soon as all the sugar is melted, begin pouring it into the kettle of simmering milk and sugar, keeping it on very slow heat and stirring constantly. Now the real secret of mixing these ingredients is to pour a very fine stream from the skillet into the pan. Aunt Bill always said to pour a stream no larger than a knitting needle, while stirring across the bottom of the kettle at the same time.
Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture forms a firm ball when dropped into cold water. After this test is made, turn out the fire and immediately add the soda, stirring hard as it foams up. Soon as the soda is mixed, add the butter, allowing it to melt as you stir. Now set the pan of candy off the stove, but not outdoors or in a cold place, for about 10 minutes, then add the vanilla and begin beating. Use a wooden spoon and beat until the mixture is thick and heavy, having a dull appearance instead of a glossy sheen. Add the broken pecan meats and mix. Turn into buttered tin boxes or square pans, where it can be cut into squares when cooled. This candy stays moist and delicious indefinitely. Decorate the pieces of candy with halves of pecans, if desired.
SOURCE: Aunt Susan (Edna Vance Adams Mueller)