Chai Spiced Divinity with Pecans

If you have read my blog for a while, you will know that I love chai tea. I make Chai Lattes and I add chai tea and spices to anything I think I can get away with like sweet potatoes, pudding, and doughnuts. So it was only natural for me to want to try it in a candy!

Some of my friends complain that divinity is too sweet. Using chai tea in my divinity recipe seemed like the perfect way  to offset the sweetness while adding a subtle undertone of spices.

I thought the tea would produce a dark divinity, especially when watching it boil:

However, I was happy to discover that the finished product was only mildly darker than plain divinity:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
2 Chai Tea bags ( I prefer Good Earth Chai Tea)
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup (recipe for corn syrup substitute)
2 egg whites
1  teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Equipment Needed:

Free standing mixer
Candy Thermometer

Directions:
(If you would like to see a pictorial tutorial, visit my How to Make Divinity post, the steps are the same.)

Heat 1/2 cup water to boiling, add tea bags, steep for 5 minutes.

In a large pot, mix sugar, corn syrup and tea. Cook over a medium-high heat, while stirring until the mixture comes to a boil.

Clip candy thermometer to the pan. Continue cooking over medium-high heat without stirring until it reaches 260 degrees ( hard-ball stage).

Once you no longer need to stir the sugar mixture, you can prepare the egg white. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until they form stiff peaks, when pushed with a spoon.

Gradually pour the hot sugar mixture in a thin stream over the egg whites, while the mixer is still set on medium  After all of the hot mixture has been added to the egg whites, increase speed to high and beat for about 3 minutes.

Turn off mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Add vanilla. Continue beating on high until the candy starts to lose its gloss ( about 5-6 minutes). When beaters are lifted, the candy should fall in a thick ribbon and form a mound.

Stir in nuts, if you like, then drop with a tablespoon ( I use a 1 Tablespoon cookie Scoop) onto wax paper.

Let them set until they have cooled and the outer layer has become somewhat dry and not sticky ( 1 –2 hours). Store in an airtight container.

For more candy recipes visit my Candy Recipe Round Up.

This post has been linked to Foodie Friday, Friday Potluck, and Gallery of Favorites.