Fondant

Judy: When I was very first married, the Student Stake Relief Society President was Gwen Miner, a candy-making expert. She brought her marble slab and all her equipment and gave us a whiz-bang demonstration. She told us what we needed and where to get it and after that I needed a marble slab. My marble slab was a piece of marble left from the demolition of the Utah State University Library.

3 c sugar

1 c cream

2 T corn syrup

dash salt

Cook to soft ball.

Put all the ingredients into a heavy saucepan, stir together and let stand 15-20 minutes (this helps dissolve sugar). Start cooking with temperature on high, stirring (like mad of course). As soon as it starts to boil, wash down the sides of the pan and the spoon with hot water and a toothbrush to dissolve all the rest of the sugar crystals, so it won’t go grainy. Water doesn’t hurt the candy, so don’t worry about slopping in too much water. This is the essential step. Turn it down to medium and keep stirring until it reaches the magic temperature. To determine the correct temperature, you need to know at what temperature water boils at your altitude. Subtract this temperature from 212° to get your altitude correction. Then subtract this correction from the following temperatures:

Mints: 235°; Cherry/Vanilla Nut Roll: 236°. Once the magic temperature has been reached, pour the fondant onto a marble or granite slab. DON’T SCRAPE THE PAN!! Put 1-2 T butter in the center. When it feels just barely warm to a gentle touch, beat using a medium-sized putty knife. It takes practice to keep it all in one bunch, but don’t give up! You can do this! When it becomes opaque and stiff, it’s finished. Beat in flavoring.