Using an Electric Mixer

When making divinity or nougat, timing is very important.

Separate the eggs, but do not begin beating the egg whites before you start cooking the candy mixture. (If you do, the egg whites will revert to a liquid state and cannot be beaten again.) Immediately after the sugar mixture has cooked to the recommended temperature, remove it from the heat; then begin beating the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Pour the hot candy mixture over the stiffly-beaten egg whites in a slow, steady stream (slightly less than 1/8-inch diameter) to ensure proper blending. At first, as the hot candy mixture hits the cooler egg whites, it may become hard. Continue beating and scraping the bowl occasionally, and the mixture will soften.

 

Step 1

1. Gradually pour the hot mixture in a thin stream (less than 1/8-inch diameter) over egg whites, beating with electric mixer on high speed.

 

Step 2

2. For divinity, when the candy just starts to lose its gloss, lift the beaters. The mixture should fall in a ribbon that mounds on itself but does not disappear into the remaining mixture. For nougat, the mixture should fall in a ribbon that mounds on itself, then slowly disappears into the remaining mixture.