Horehound Candy II is a traditional British recipe for a classic hard sugar candy made with cane sugar and honey flavoured with dried horehound. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Horehound Candy II.
Place the dried horehound in a bowl, pour over boiling water and set aside to steep for 20 minutes.
Line a shallow-sided baking tray with greaseproof (waxed) paper and set aside.
Strain the horehound infusion through a fine-meshed sieve directly into a high-sided saucepan. Add in the sugar and honey then set over medium-high heat.
Cook, stirring constantly until the syrup comes to a boil. Continue boiling, stirring all the while, until the mixture reaches the hard crack stage (149°C [300°F] on a candy thermometer or when a ribbon of 'syrup' immediately hardens in ice water and breaks with a snap). Note: The mixture will become very frothy at some point during boiling, keep stirring and be careful not to burn.
When the hard crack stage is reached, immediately pour the syrup mixture onto your prepared baking tray. Scrape the top with a silicone spatula to even then set aside to cool until it can just be handled.
Once cold and set invert the baking tray onto a chopping board and use the overhanging paper to ease the candy from the tray. Quickly cut the candy into long strips about 2cm wide. Using oiled hands shape into ropes then cut into 2-3cm lengths and set aside to cool completely.
If you want to store the candies in a jar, roll them in powdered sugar to prevent them from sticking before storing.
