BEFORE YOU START

• The day has to be clear and dry - no humidity!
• Eggs need to be at room temperature.
• All utensils must be perfectly free of grease. Wash in hot soapy water and rinse the mixer bowl, beaters, spoons and pan and dry them.
• Prepare, grease or line w/waxed paper, an 8 X 11 pan before you start.
• Set up Kitchen Aid mixer on the work table.
• Set out a large, heavy pan for cooking the syrup, a measuring cup, a small bowl of cold water, and a long handled spoon.
• Gather the ingredients and place on the work table before you start cooking.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup (Karo most recognizable brand)
• 3/4 cup water
• 3 egg whites from large eggs AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
• 1 3-oz. box Cherry gelatin (Use Jello brand - not generic)
• 3/4 cup walnuts, coarse chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine sugar, water & Karo syrup in the pot and bring to a boil on the stove top.
2. Attach your candy thermometer to the inside of the pot and continue boiling and stirring the syrup mixture until it reaches 260 F OR forms a hard but pliable ball when you drop a bit into a glass of VERY cold water. Keep in mind that this mixture is HOT and will burn you if you are not careful!
3. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites using your Kitchen Aid mixer until the the whites make soft peaks when the beaters are lifted out.
4. Continue beating while gradually adding the cherry gelatin powder, and beat until whites are stiff and glossy.
5. When you syrup mixture is ready, slowly pour it into the egg white mixture, while beating constantly until mixture is very thick, 6-8 minutes maybe.
6. Immediately add walnuts & vanilla.
7. Spread evenly in prepared dish and let stand at room temperature until completely cool and set - maybe 4 or so hours or overnight.
8. Cut into 1 inch squares and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Moist air is very bad for your finished product.

Notes By MisterDelicious

• Use a candy thermometer.   Don't guess.   They're cheap.
• When boiling the sugar syrup, start your heat on high.  As you get to 200, turn your heat down to medium/medium-low.   Once the sugar syrup has started to boil and becomes clear, raise the heat again to medium-high.   If you keep your heat on High when it starts to boil, you WILL GET A BOILED OVER POT OF MOLTEN SUGAR.  This is no good.
• When the sugar syrup is boiling, do NOT move the pot.  Do NOT stir the syrup.  And make sure you keep the sides clean, especially the side you will pour the syrup out of.  The reasoning behind this is you do not want to start and sugar crystal seeds until you mix the sugar and eggs together.  We want small small crystals to form when mixing(which is why you mix it), and if you have "seeds" larger crystals will form which again is no good.
• When the sugar syrup gets to 260^o turn the heat off and let the syrup rest a minute before combining.  This lets the bubbles dissipate and makes the syrup smooth.
• I have a KitchenAid mixer.   I have found that the best attachment to use when mixing the egg whites and syrup is a dough hook.  The whisk and Paddle attachment did not produce the fine sugar crystal texture and it also put a strain on my motor.  The paddle attachment did wonders and it did not strain the motor.
• Mixing.   When mixing, your goal is to create millions of tiny sugar crystals as the mixture cools.  This is achieved by constant mixing and agitating.  So how do you know when you've mixed enough?  If you mix too little, you have nothing more than a sticky sticky mess.  While if you mix too much you will create too many sugar crystals and you will have a lumpy mess.  So it's the middle you want.
• With my paddle attachment set to the highest setting to mix without burning out my motor, I mixed for ~12 minutes.   You have to keep a very close eye on it.  The sheen will become more matte, and at that point you need to watch it very carefully.   You've mixed enough so that it is no longer really sticky(if it stops being sticky then you beat it too much, it's really a fine line and you want to get close to it, but not over it).  What's easy about this part is that you can stop and check as many times as you need.
• My last piece of advice is to add the Vanilla Extract at the very very last end.  Right when you think your mixture is done, add the vanilla and mix enough to incorporate and then scoop into the pan(or spoon onto wax paper).
• Let is rest.
• Don't make it on a cloudy day as you need the low humidity for it to dry properly.

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Related Recipes:

1. Simple Syrup