Candy Fluff

This is divinity by another name -- brown sugar makes it the variant usually called sea foam. It is filed under icings because the same boiled-syrup-into-egg-white method fills a cake, but as written it is dropped as candy.

• "Cook until it threads"Thread stage is 230-235F on a candy thermometer; the syrup falls from the spoon in a thin thread that does not hold a shape.
• The hinge: pour slowly, keep beatingThe hot syrup must go into the whites in a thin steady stream while the whites are being beaten continuously. Dumping it in cooks the egg into strings and the mixture will never hold air. A stand mixer does the work that Mrs. Kruckman did by arm.
• Beat past the pourThe original stops at "pour slowly," but the candy is not finished until the mass loses its gloss and a spoonful holds its shape on the paper. That is usually another five to ten minutes of beating. Drop it too early and it spreads into puddles.
• The stray tablespoon of peanutsThe line "1 T peanuts" was set adrift at the end of the entry in the original. It belongs with the flavoring -- chopped and folded in just before dropping. A tablespoon is a modest amount.
• FlavorNo flavoring is named. A teaspoon of vanilla, stirred in as the beating finishes, is the likeliest intent; maple extract suits the brown sugar particularly well.
• WeatherBoiled-sugar candies of this type will not set on a humid day -- the finished pieces stay sticky and weep. Make it when the air is dry, or take the syrup a couple of degrees higher.
• Egg whiteThe syrup heats the white but does not reliably pasteurize it. Use pasteurized whites if serving anyone who should avoid raw egg.
• Paper and yieldParchment does the job of wax paper and releases more cleanly. Two cups of sugar yields roughly two dozen small pieces; leave them uncovered an hour to firm before storing airtight.