Hard Honey Candy

[clanpattison]

I'm wondering if there are any hard candies that can be made w/o sugar, like peppermint candies, etc.
Also, I'm seeking candies that use unsweetened chocolate, honey that will harden (like almond/nut barks) rather than being more like a soft taffy - my wife says it can't be done without using sugar - which I don't want to use if possible.
In other words, can honey be brought to a hard(?) candy stage by boiling using a candy thermometer?
TIA

[Rader Sidetrack]

Welcome to Beesource!

Have you seen Michael Bush's recipe in this thread?
http://www.beesource.com/forums/show...ght=hard+candy
See post #2

[clanpattison]

THX, checking that link now

[Slow Modem]

I don't know how they do it, but these folks make hard honey candy. It's like a throat lozenge, but it's good.

http://www.honibe.com/honibe_our_shop_candy.html

[KPeacock]

i just googled some stuff on this and founda few recipes using honey and butter, and one using honey and flavored vinegar. I haev enver tried anything of the sort, so i can;t defend or condemn them, but there is some info out there on how to do this.

[clanpattison]

I may have to revise my thinking about not using sugar ..... but, I was trying to avoid processed/refined sugar that no longer has the valuable vitamins and minerals in it - why use good raw honey, and mess it up with no-good sugar After coming to town and using the internet for the past few days, I have discovered a barely-processed cane sugar that is sold under various names -

Panela is probably the most universally recognized name for "dehydrated cane juice". In the Andes, it is known as chancaca, and it is an important ingredient in many dishes, like the fragrant syrup for the pumpkin doughnuts called picarones. In Brazil, panela is called rapadura. In Venezuela it's known as papelón, and in Mexico it's piloncillo.http://southamericanfood.about.com/o...aca-Panela.htm

In India and parts of Asia, it is known as Jaggery, but can be either Cane sugar or Palm sugar. We found some Panela and some Piloncillo at a Latino market today, and we'll see if we can find some Jaggery at an Asian/Indian market if we can find one around here. I'd like to see how they react with honey for the recipes that have been posted - especially the candy recipes

BTW, I'm not the chief cook and bottle washer around my house - I'm barely allowed into the kitchen , so it may be some time before I can get back with some comments about the results of using the blocks of hardened Cane Juice.

Thanks for all the responses