swiss cream candies
It’s impossible to convey the deliciousness of these sweets using just pictures & words. You will have to try them! The photo above shows two kinds of sweets, but this recipe is for the caramel-colored, diamond-shaped confections shown above…the best candy in the world!
They are very simple to make~just stir 3 ingredients together over heat, pour into a buttered dish to cool, then cut into diamond shapes!
I must add, it’s helpful to have a team or at least a friend to help you make these, because it takes about 2-1/2 hours of stirring, but the results are well worth the effort, for a once-a-year delicacy!
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
2-1/2 cups sugar
Put pan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly (you can leave for 5 minutes here & there).
After 2-1/2 hours, it will be a light brown (caramel) color, & it will start to pull away from the sides of the pan. It will look almost like it is curdling. If it is thickening, but still settling into the pan like a liquid, it is too early to take it off the heat. It will start to pull away from the sides of the pot as you stir, and then suddenly it will not seem like a true liquid anymore, and you can see the bottom of the pan as you stir, instead of it covering the bottom of the pan as a true liquid does.
Stir quickly at this point, or it will burn, and pour it into a buttered glass dish. Spread out to about a 1/2 inch in thickness.
Here are the different cooking stages:
After a long time, the mixture turns a yellowy color…
Then after another while to a light caramel…
And here it is almost done!
Butter a glass pie plate or casserole dish ahead of time, & when the candy is ready, pour into the greased dish, so it is about 1/2 inch in thickness. (An 8- x 13-inch casserole dish is just right for 1 batch. Or you can use a pie plate & another small glass dish.)
At this point, the candy will seem like a sticky, liquid caramel, but once it cools for several hours, it should be soft & crumbly.
Allow to cool for several hours or overnight…
And then cut parallel diagonal lines in one direction with a sharp knife (maybe 1 inch or a bit less apart) and then parallel lines in the other direction, to make a diamond pattern…here:
Enjoy!
love,
clay ball
Copy-and-Print Version below!
SWISS CREAM CANDIES
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
2-1/2 cups sugar
Put ingredients in a sauce pan with a thick bottom, over medium-low heat, stirring constantly (you can leave for 5 minutes here & there).
After 2-1/2 hours, it will be a light brown (caramel) color, & it will start to pull away from the sides of the pan. It will look almost like it is curdling, and will no longer quickly smooth out to cover the bottom of the pot, as aas a liquid normally does.
Stir quickly at this point, or it will burn, and pour it into a buttered glass dish. Spread out to about a 1/2 inch in thickness.
At this point, the candy will seem like a sticky, liquid caramel, but once it cools for several hours, it should be soft & crumbly.
Allow to cool for several hours or overnight…
And then cut parallel diagonal lines in one direction with a sharp knife (maybe 1 inch or a little less apart) and then parallel lines in the other direction, to make a diamond pattern…here is a diagram:
NOTE: If you are making 2 batches, it works better to cook simultaneously in 2 separate pots, rather than make 1 huge batch.
Enjoy!
love,
clay ball
p.s. We have mistakenly taken batches off the stove too early, when they are still at a very light caramel-colored stage, & then the candy is similar to a very soft caramel–we just formed them into balls, rolled them in powdered sugar & called them “snow candies.” (the powdery ones pictured above!) Other times, we’ve overcooked them, & then they become rock hard! If that happens, that’s okay, just try again another time! They are best of all when cooked to the color shown above, when the mixture starts to become thickened & bubbly!
