One of the most flexible things you can make out of old candy canes (or any hard candy) is candy cane sugar which can be used just like regular sugar in a variety of ways.
I made mine from a couple of humongo peppermint sticks by Spangler (each weighs 4 ounces). Two of these sticks will make 1 Cup of candy cane sugar.
There are a couple of ways to make it, I use the old fashioned method.
Supplies:
1 cutting board
1 kitchen mallet or hammer (with a flat surface to it)
2 heavy duty (freezer) plastic bags
Put the candies into one of the ziploc bags and then into the other. Once you start pounding away the sharp pieces will cut the bag a bit and if you don’t want a powdery-sticky mess, it’s best to double bag.
Whack away. Break up the big pieces first, hitting them as best you can with the flat side of your mallet or hammer.
After breaking up the candy, dump it into a bowl. Shake the bowl gently to get the larger pieces to the top, scoop them off and return them to the plastic bag for further pulverization. Repeat until you get your candy sugar to the grind that you desire.
Alternate Method:
Break up candy canes into small pieces by hand.
Put into clean Coffee Grinder (or food processor).
Pulse grind to break up big chunks. Continue until you reach the desired consistency.
For best results:
When finished put into an airtight container. If you live in a particularly humid area keep it in the fridge to prevent it from reforming into a sticky pile.
Use single-colored candy. Multicolored candy canes (such as red and green stripes) will make for a rather muddy colored sugar once it’s pulverized.
Do not use plastic produce bags, they’re just too thin and you’ll end up with bits of plastic in your sugar.
See the grand list of 33 Things to do with Candy Canes for ideas on how to use your Candy Cane Sugar. I made the Peppermint Stick Layer Cake!
I was halfway through making the PTA yellow cake recipe from Amy Sedaris’s AWESOME “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence,” when I realized I was about a quarter cup shy of sugar.
To solve the problem, I smashed up some butterscotch candies I had on hand, and the result was so delicious that I’ll probably make the cake this way every time.
Anyway, I was excited to see that someone had a similar thought. I’m eager to try this method with different candies.
if you replaced the candy canes with boiled candy, would the use still be the same?? coz i’m wonderig…
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