Recipe Talk

I made seafoam candy last night except that even after letting it sit for overnight it is still sticky and not set like it should be. Any idea what I did wrong?? Any way to fix without having to toss it all??
Thanks!!

Sea Foam Candy

A classic Southern confection of a bygone era, sea foam is a sweetened meringue candy flavored with brown sugar, pecans, and vanilla. The recipe was largely absent from newer cookbooks, and older recipes we tried yielded achingly sweet, sticky blobs studded with bland nuts. Although the results were poor, we could see how sea foam could be pleasantly sweet and enjoyably sticky. Here?s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

Sea foam is prepared by whisking a great quantity of sugar syrup into stiffly whipped egg whites. A candy thermometer is essential for gauging the proper temperature of the sugar syrup and a standing mixer will save your arm 15 to 25 minutes of whisking. The amount of corn syrup added to the corn syrup largely determines the texture of the sea foam. Too much, and the candy will be putty-like; too little and it will turn out as fluffy as an omelet. One cup yields a fluffy candy with an enjoyable chewiness.
Combine roughly equal parts of white and brown sugar to provide the most even sweetness and richest flavor.
The egg white/sugar syrup mixture goes from underbeaten to overbeaten in just a minute or two. When you think you might be close, stop the mixer and lift the whisk to judge the texture. When underbeaten, the mixture will look like molten lava and any peaks will sink slowly back into the bowl. When properly beaten, the mixture will hold medium-stiff peaks and look smooth. If you keep beating the mixture, it will become stiffer and start to look rough.
For the richest nut flavor, toast the pecans before folding them into the sugar and egg mixture. A whole pecan affixed to the top of each candy provides additional flavor and an attractive appearance.
A splash of white vinegar cuts the sugar?s sweetness and sharpens the candy?s flavor.

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