Light as air, divinity is a sweet and creamy Southern candy, a popular holiday treat. This old-fashioned divinity candy recipe is easy to follow with time-tested tips and tricks for your success!
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Ever since my mother-in-law taught me how to make divinity 10+ years ago, it has become my favorite holiday treat!
Every year, I whip up a batch and share the treat with her.
It brings fun memories of us making them together with her hand-held electric mixer, almost burning the motor as the mixer started to heat-up and smell of burn.
What is divinity?
Divinity is a classic southern Christmas treat made of egg whites, sugar and corn syrup.
It has melt-in-your-mouth soft and fluffy texture, sweet and creamy taste. The name says it all. It’s divine!
Nothing brings holiday cheer quite like old-fashioned divinity.
Key Ingredient Notes:
- Sugar – You’ll need granulated sugar for this recipe. It’s one of the main components of the recipe, and there’s no substitution for it.
- Corn syrup is another key ingredient for proper set. Sometimes, you can substitute honey or maple syrup for cornstarch.
- Egg whites – Be sure to keep the egg whites away for any form of fat/grease/yolk. Or you won’t be able to beat into a nice meringue.
- Vanilla – In vintage recipe, you might see it’s advised to use clear imitation vanilla to keep its bright and white color. But I’m a passionate advocate for pure vanilla extract. In my experience, it doesn’t affect the color as much!
- Pecans are classic add-in in divinity candy. But walnuts are also a popular option.
How to make divinity candy recipe:
1. Make sugar syrup
- In a heavy-bottomed medium (2qt) saucepan, combine sugar, water and corn syrup and cook the mixture on low heat, stirring continuously until sugar is dissolved.
- Once the sugar is fully dissolved, turn the heat up to medium high and continue to cook the mixture without stirring until it reaches 250°F on candy thermometer.
- As the syrup approaches 240°F, start whipping the egg whites.
2. Make the divinity
- In a large mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until hard peaks form.
- Reduce the speed to low and slowly and continuously pour the hot syrup mixture in to the egg whites.
- Add vanilla extract.
- Increase the mixer to high speed and continue to beat the mixture until it loses its gloss and holds its shape, about 15 minutes. Check the consistency after 15 minutes. If the mixture is stilly runny and shiny, beat for another 5 minutes and check again.
Tip
Divinity is ready for shaping once the mixture is thick and no longer glossy, it slowly falls into a ribbon and holds its shape too.
3. Shape and set the candies
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper and spray 2 spoons with non-stick cooking spray.
- Using the buttered spoons, drop a spoonful of divinity mixture onto the prepared sheet.
- Let the candies set at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
Tip
As soon as divinity batter is ready, work quickly to shape the divinity candies right away.
Divinity Tips for Success:
- Wait for a dry day to make divinity, because sugar attracts water from humidity. And it takes longer for the mixture to reach proper consistency and candies take longer to set. If it’s a humid day or raining , you better put it off for another day.
- A stand mixer and a thermometer are your best friends in making these sweet confections. Because it takes a long time to beat the mixture, hand-held mixers are just not powerful enough and you may burn the motor of your mixer. A thermometer is a must in divinity-making affair. If the syrup isn’t cooked to hard ball stage, your divinity won’t set, and that’d be sad.
- Be patient. It does take a fair amount of whipping to get that perfectly matte batter, even with a stand mixer.
Why stand mixer is necessary for making divinity?
Your grandma probably made this candy by hand, but there’s just no way I can whip this batter by hand for 15+ minutes!
It’s also super easy (…and much safer) to beat the egg whites in a stand mixer while pouring hot sugar mixture, unless you have a helper.
Even if you have someone there to help you, it’s 100 times easier to have the mixer do all the mixing and your job is to watch the process, because otherwise it’s quite a workout!
Divinity Variations:
You can make lots of variations by mixing in different adds-ons.
- You can chop up the pecans and mix it into the batter.
- You can use walnuts, or even black walnuts, too.
- Mini chocolate chips or mint chocolates are also a great additions.
- Maraschino divinity is another classic!
- And last but not least, colored divinity! Play around with food coloring to add a fun holiday twist. Smear red and green strips inside a piping bag and then add the divinity mixture. Then pipe the divinity and swirl into whatever shape your heart desires.
Storing Tips:
Once the divinity candies are set, place them in an airtight container with parchment paper in between layers and store a cool, dry place for up to 1 week.
FAQs:
Divinity is made of egg whites, sugar and corn syrup. Optional add-ons are pecans/walnuts and vanilla or other extracts for flavoring.
Although both made of similar ingredients, divinity and meringue have very different textures.
Divinity is fudge or nougat-type of candy made with hot sugar syrup that’s cooked till 250°F.
Meringue, on other hand, is crispy and sweet cookies, and is made of whipped egg whites with sugar, or sugar syrup that’s cooked till 240°F.
Your grandma probably made this candy by hand, but there’s just no way I can whip this batter by hand for 15+ minutes!
It’s also super easy (…and much safer) to beat the egg whites in a stand mixer while pouring hot sugar mixture, unless you have a helper.
Even if you have someone there to help you, it’s 100 times easier to have the mixer do all the mixing and your job is to watch the process, because otherwise it’s quite a workout!
Old-Fashioned Divinity
Ingredients
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120ml) light corn syrup
- ½ cup (120ml) water
- 2 egg whites
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Pecan halves
Instructions
To make the syrup:
- In a heavy-bottomed medium (2qt) saucepan, mix together sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook the mixture on low heat, stirring continuously until sugar is dissolved.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, turn the heat up to medium high and continue to cook the mixture without stirring until it reaches 250°F on thermometer.
To make divinity batter:
- As the syrup approaches 240°F, start whipping the egg whites.
- In a large mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until hard peaks form.
- Reduce the speed to low and slowly and continuously pour the hot syrup mixture in to the egg whites.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- Increase the speed to high and continue to beat the mixture until it loses its gloss and holds its shape, about 15 minutes. Check the consistency after 15 minutes. If the mixture is stilly runny and shiny, beat for another 5 minutes and check again.
To shape and set:
- Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper and spray 2 spoons with non-stick cooking spray.
- Using the buttered spoons, drop a spoonful of divinity mixture onto the prepared sheet.
- Push a pecan half on top of each divinity. Alternatively, you may chop the pecans into smaller pieces and stir them into the divinity batter.
- Let the divinity set at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on December 18th, 2013.
After I added my vanilla it turned the mixture tan and it never went back to white.. did I do something wrong?
Hi, Kimberly. Hmm, interesting. I’ve never had that happen to me. And I use pure vanilla extract, which is usually light bright color. What kind of vanilla extract did you use?
The red and green ones weren’t beat long enough. You can tell they were falling in on themselves and were probably chewy
It never ceases to amaze me that people feel the need to go on a recipe site & make mean comments. Had you bothered to read the previous reviews, you would’ve seen that she used a piping bag to make them like that. I think they turned out beautifully. I also think that you’re just an unhappy person trying to make someone else as miserable as you probably are.
I love making divinity for my dear mother in law. My mixer motor didn’t make it through the entire performance, but quit within the last minute of beating. Turned out perfect! My mother in law will savor each dollop of every piece❤ Merry Christmas Mom.
Aww, that’s so sweet of you, Cherokee. I must make some for my MIL too this weekend. She first introduced these to me many years ago. Thank you for sharing!!!
I am 77 and have been making it for years as my mother did before me. The recipe was in her only cook book (Watkins Cook Book published in 1945). While i use use a candy thermometer she did not nor did she use measuring cups or spoons.she made 5 batches a year for me to give as Christmases gifts.
Aww, sweet memories. Thank you so much for sharing, Linda! My mom never uses any measuring cups (it’s actually pretty foreign concept for us, Mongolians), or scale, let alone thermometer. Everything is measured by an eye! 🙂
My sister’s meemaw also did it by hand. She would cook the sugar mix until it “spins a thread” when she dipped the spoon in a it came out of the pan and beat that candy by hand with a special candy whip she had. It was delicious.
I’m about to try it as per her instructions, except with a whisk on a mixer, because nobody can find that special candy whip anywhere.
I love the rainbow colors…how did you make it look sooo perfect ??
Hi Carole. I drew lines with gel food coloring inside the piping bag and then put the divinity batter and piped them. It’s super easy yet yields an impressive result.
Followed directions precisely. Used the work. Got the syrup mixture poured into egg whites. Mixer speed on high. After a few minutes (about 8) mixture began climbing up to the top and over the bowl. Slung mixture all over me and kitchen. Removed wish, replaced with beaters. Continued beating. Could not tell when mixture stopped being shiny, so after about 22 minutes, decided to go ahead and spoon out on baking sheet to cool. What did I do wrong? Used candy thermometer. Was not raining!!
I looked at another recipe that said to stop beating once the candy can stand on its own and not fall in on itself. It never really looked matte but I lifted the beaters periodically to check the consistency. That’s what worked for me!
Hi,. My Dad use to make Duvinity for Christmas. One year he made chocolate it is as so good. But he couldn’t remember how he did it. So my question is has anyone made chocolate divinity? Is there a recipe or suggestions on how to do it.
Thanks,
Sherri
Hi, Sherri. I’ve never tried making chocolate divinity. Hope you’ll find a great recipe for it.
Sherri, the way I make chocolate divinity, is to stir 2-3 Tbls. cocoa powder into the sugar first, then add the water and corn syrup and continue on with the recipe. At the end and AFTER stirring in the vanilla and finely chopped pecans, I lightly fold in some semi-sweet chocolate chips, leaving a few streaks of chocolate showing through. Sometimes they will all melt but that just makes it more chocolaty good! Hope this helps.
I live in Louisiana and have made divinity for years – I just made some yesterday with 84% humidity and it came out perfect. I think that’s just an old wives tale that refuses to die! I beat 1/2 my syrup into 1/2 the egg whites when the syrup reaches soft ball stage, cook other half of syrup to the hard crack stage and beat that in along with rest of egg whites, don’t know why that’s how my grandmother taught me 🙂 You have a nice site here – thanks for sharing
I agree. I knew a lady that made divinity all year round
With the Kitchen Aid mixer, do you use the wire whip attachment throughout the whole process?
Hi, Marlene. Yes, wire whisk the entire time.
I’ve made divinity for40+ years. Never have used a thermometer. Learned from my Mother she used the trick of testing the syrup by holding spoonful 15 or so inches above pan till it spins a very fine thread. She also would pour a portion of the syrup while letting some simmer for a minute or so. I remember her using a hand beater when on the ranch as we had no electricity.
Hi, Shelley. Thank you for sharing your trick for checking the sugar syrup. And oh man, your mother must have been strong and patient, because it’s not easy to beat this by hand!!