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Before you begin this recipe, please take a class from a professional on working with sugar.
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This is a skill that professional pastry chefs develop after years of experience.
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Working with sugar will burn your fingers so know before you start that your fingers will develop burn blisters.
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Place the sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan over high heat.
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Insert a candy thermometer and cook until the sugar reaches 320 degrees F. Use a pastry brush to keep the inside of the saucepan clean as the sugar cooks or the sugar may recrystallize.
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To do this, dip a clean brush in cold water and brush the inside of the pan clean.
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Pour the cooked sugar onto 3 or 4 silicone baking mats.
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If you want to color and/or flavor the sugar with food colors and/or flavored oils, this is the time to do so.
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Add a few drops of color to the sugar.
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Mix with a wooden skewer.
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To get started, push the sugar from the sides toward the center.
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This process takes a little while.
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Try to keep the sugar divided by color.
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Use the mat to push the firm sugar around the edges toward the center.
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Use a folding motion to accomplish that task.
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The next step is to pick up the sugar with your hands.
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Place each color under the heat of the sugar lamp.
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Pull the sugar until it becomes glossy and the color is evenly distributed.
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You will need to pull the colors simultaneously.
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Keep them under the sugar lamp but keep an eye on them.
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The lamp can melt the sugar so it is important keep rotating it and folding it onto itself.
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Start with 2 pieces of colored sugar.
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I used red and green.
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Pull them into a rectangular shape that is about 1 1/2-inches wide by 3-inches long and 1/2-inch thick.
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Place the pieces side-to-side and let them stick together on the long side.
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Place a piece of white sugar that is about 1/2-inch wide by 3-inches long and 1/2-inch thick in the middle.
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Close the red and green around it.
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Roll it and twist it while pulling it.
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When it gets to the desired thickness, use a scissor to cut the length and shape into a cane.
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Allow to cool completely.
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The white is inside and will become apparent when eaten.
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Jacques?
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tips: Vinegar keeps the sugar from crystallizing.
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You will not taste the flavor.
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It serves as an acid in this recipe.
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Sometimes candy cane recipes contain corn syrup, which makes the sugar very dry and very hot.
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Adding corn syrup makes it more difficult to work with the sugar at home.
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Remember, the sugar is at 320 degrees F, and that will burn you.
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The ideal work surface is a silpat placed over cool marble or granite.
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If you do not have marble or stone, use wood.
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It is a good idea to use gloves to help protect your hands from the heat and to prevent burning.
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I use a special sugar box that includes a special heat source, If you don?t have one, you can work in front of the oven.
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Set the oven to 300 degrees F. Open the oven door and place the silpat on the oven door.
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It provides a similar effect to the sugar box heater.
