Black Licorice Squares

After the fuss and bother of the holidays - filled with too much of everything from the enjoyable to the stressful to the gluttonous - I know my digestive system is totally thrown off. You never want to see another plate of food in your lifetime, let alone gorge on more decadence. Ironically, one of the things that really helps us recover from this biological confusion is ingesting wintery spices - I'm talking the gingers, the cinnamons, and the strong anise and fennel combinations that sneak into the season's fare. A few friends of mine adore licorice - in particular, black licorice - flavour and making some "digestive" candies seemed like a great inclusion in their gift boxes this season.

I looked around the Web at a few different recipes, which all seemed to have the same basic ingredients: butter, molasses, cream and sugar. I settled on Pinch and Swirl's recipe as a jumping off point, and played around a little bit with the ingredients to get what I was looking for in my final candy. I came out with a pan of slightly chewy, very licoricey, perfectly wrappable squares that definitely hit the spot after a rich meal. If you love black licorice, these are definitely the candy for you!

Black Licorice Squares
Makes ~36 pieces
¼ cup 18% (table) cream
¼ cup salted butter
3 tbsp light corn syrup
3 tbsp fancy molasses
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup Muscavado sugar (or dark brown sugar)
½ tsp Kosher salt
6 tbsp white whole wheat flour
1 dram anise candy oil (I use LorAnn Hard Candy Flavoring Oil)

1. Line a 9 x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. In a heavy pot, combine cream, butter, corn syrup, molasses, sugars and salt to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 260°F.
4. Remove from heat and thoroughly stir in the flour, candy oil and food colouring if using.
5. Quickly and carefully pour the candy into the pan.
6. Allow to set for 10 minutes, then score with a bench scraper or sharp chef’s knife and allow to cool completely before separating and wrapping the pieces.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 38.6
Total Fat: 1.8 g
Cholesterol: 5.4 mg
Sodium: 26.9 mg
Total Carbs: 6.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.2 g
Protein: 0.3 g