Divinity (confectionery) facts for kids
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| Type | Confection |
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| Main ingredients | Egg whites, corn syrup, and sugar or brown sugar |
Divinity is a super yummy, fluffy candy that's a bit like nougat. It's made by whipping up egg whites with sweet corn syrup and sugar. Sometimes, people add tasty things like chopped dried fruit or crunchy nuts to make it even better! If you use brown sugar instead of white sugar, it becomes a similar treat called "sea foam".
The Sweet Story of Divinity
Divinity candy is thought to have started in the United States in the early 1900s. A recipe from 1915 is very similar to how we make it today.
One idea about how it began is that corn syrup became a popular way to sweeten things back then. Big candy makers often created new recipes using it. Divinity might have been one of these new treats!
No one is completely sure how Divinity got its name. The most popular story is that when someone first tasted it, they exclaimed, "Divine!" and the name simply stuck.
Divinity is often called a "Southern candy." This is probably because people in the Southern U.S. frequently add pecans to the recipe. Over time, this delicious candy traveled north, and now you can find its recipe in many cookbooks everywhere.
Making Divinity: Weather Matters!
When you make Divinity, the weather can really affect how it turns out. For the candy to dry properly and be perfect, the air needs to be dry too.
Divinity has a lot of sugar, which means it can soak up moisture from the air. If the air is very humid (meaning it has a lot of moisture), the candy will absorb it and stay gooey. To fix this, candy makers sometimes heat the sugar mixture to a higher temperature. When made in the right conditions, Divinity should be soft, white, and dry to the touch.
Just like baking, making Divinity in places that are very high up (like mountains) needs a special recipe. If you live over 3,500 feet above sea level, you might need to change the recipe. One way is to lower the temperature of the sugar mixture by about ten degrees Fahrenheit.
Divinity in Pop Culture
Divinity has popped up in a few fun places over the years:
- In the Peanuts comic strip from the 1960s, Linus Van Pelt really loved Divinity. He would even compliment his sister Lucy just to get a piece!
- The band The B-52's mention Divinity in their song "Give Me Back My Man". The singer, Cindy Wilson, explained that the character in the song throws Divinity on the sand to try and save her sweetheart from a hungry shark. Since the band is from Athens, Georgia, they knew all about this Southern candy.
- In the 1985 movie Perfect, the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis's character talks about making the best Divinity. She even offers some to John Travolta's character.
- In the 2006 movie Charlotte's Web, the town pastor offers the Arable family some Divinity. This happens when they come to him about Charlotte's amazing web writing.
