A recipe for old fashioned Sea Foam Candy! Sea Foam is a light and airy candy that has a dreamy texture that strikes me as a cross between marshmallows and meringues. It’s very similar to Divinity, but there are some subtle differences between the two.
Like the potato candy recipe I recently shared, this Sea Foam recipe also came from my grandmother. It’s a tried & true classic and is perfect for making and sharing around the holidays.
Today we are rounding out our week of candy with a recipe for Sea Foam Candy!
So far we’ve adventured through the following candy recipes:
Some of you might be thinking that today’s recipe looks an awful lot like Divinity candy, and you’re not wrong. However, I’ve decided to keep today’s recipe separate from Divinity for a few reasons.
Originally even I thought today’s recipe was going to be called Divinity and not Sea Foam. If you google “Sea Foam” online, you actually end up with a lot of recipes that look just like my Honeycomb recipe.
However, my grandmother’s recipe, clipped from an old, faded magazine, distinctly reads SEAFOAM right at the top. Sea Foam and Divinity look identical and call for the essentially the same ingredients and nearly the same method, though. So what’s the difference?
What is the Difference between Sea Foam and Divinity Candy?
For one thing, Sea Foam uses a combination of white and brown sugar, while Divinity uses just white sugar. Not that big of a difference there, though sea foam does have a slightly richer (ahem, better) taste.
A more key difference is that while both recipes use corn syrup, Divinity uses much more than my grandmother’s Sea Foam recipe does. It’s believed that Divinity was actually invented by Karo Syrup as a way to sell more of their product. Because my Sea Foam recipe uses only 2 Tablespoons of corn syrup as opposed to the ½ cup that many Divinity recipes use, I didn’t feel that it would be right to call this recipe Divinity.
This difference in corn syrup also causes Divinity to be a heavier candy, while Sea Foam is lighter and airier. Because of these differences, though subtle, I didn’t feel right calling today’s recipe Divinity, and you can expect a more true-to-form Divinity recipe from in the future.
How to Store Sea Foam Candy
Sea Foam Candy makes a great edible gift because it will keep for up to several weeks. For best results, be sure to store your candy at room temperature in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
More Candy Recipes You May Like:
Sea Foam
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed (200g)
- ½ cup water (120ml)
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ heaping cup chopped pecans or walnuts* toast whole then chop (70g)
TOOLS
- candy thermometer I linked to the one I use in the recipe notes below
- pastry brush
- electric mixer I like to use my stand mixer, there is a lot of mixing required in this recipe and I'm not sure that it could be done by hand without an electric or hand mixer.
Instructions
- Place egg whites in the clean, grease-free bowl of stand mixer (you may use a large bowl and an electric mixer instead, but there is a lot of mixing required and even using a hand mixer will be an arm workout). Set aside.
- In a medium-sized, heavy bottomed saucepan, combine sugars, corn syrup, and water.
- Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves. Use a damp pastry brush to wipe down sides to keep sugar crystals from forming.
- Once your sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to come to a boil, stop stirring and attach your candy thermometer.
- Continue to cook to 255F (124C) but once your mixture reaches about 240F (115C), keep an eye on your temperature but return to your egg whites in your stand mixer. Add the salt and use a whisk attachment to beat your egg whites and stiff peaks form** -- this can take several minutes even on the highest speed. Be sure to pay attention to your syrup on the stovetop, and let your stiff peak mixture sit while you wait for that to reach 255F.
- Once syrup reaches temperature, remove from heat and drizzle in a slow, thin stream into the bowl with your stiff peaks while beating on high speed Be careful, go slowly or there will be some splatter! You can start on low speed and gradually increase the speed to high as you are adding the syrup.
- Continue beating the mixture until it holds its shape. the mixture will become glossy and very thick, and this will take several minutes. Beat until it is stiff enough to hold is shape when the whisk is raised from the mixture.
- Use a spatula or a wooden spoon to stir in your vanilla and chopped nuts.
- Use a pair of lightly buttered spoons to drop the mixture by 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized portions onto a wax or parchment paper lined tray, swirling each drop into a peak.
- Let the tray of Sea Foam stand until it is completely dry, this could take several hours or it may even need to sit overnight.
Notes
How to Store Sea Foam
Store candy at room temperature in an airtight container for up to several weeks.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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Krystle
Good morning I just came across this recipe and was curious. I’m a not a baker/cook so forgive me if it’s a stupid question but is the brown sugar light or dark? Thank you in advance!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Krystle! Light brown sugar will be more mild and dark will have a stronger, molasses flavor. While you could use either, we’d recommend using light brown sugar for this recipe. 😊
Gwen
I am thrilled to find this recipe. My grandmother used to make it!
Whenever I make divinity, the humidity has to be very low. Is that the case for this as well?
Sam
Low humidity is ideal for making sea foam candy as well. It’s not impossible to do otherwise, it’s just best to have low humidity. 🙂
Daryl
I just found an old box of my mother’s recipes, some look like the Dead Sea Scrolls. I came across her handwritten recipe for Sea Foam. Unfortunately the bottom of the page is missing, along with several ingredients. It has been over 60 years since I can recall the event of making these delightful gems. It was great to find this recipe, but I distinctly remember her pulling a cookie sheet out of the oven. They were lightly Toasted on the top. No nuts though. Is that possible? What a precious memory this brought bake. I will try this recipe in her memory.
Sam
Hi Daryl! You can leave the nuts out if you’d like. 🙂
Janet
Today was the day to try this recipe! It came out beautiful. I did have the syrup splatter up the bowl, but it stuck there so I didn’t scrape it into the candy. I was also terrified of burning the plastic bowl on my (very expensive) Bosch mixer, but it didn’t scar it at all. Thank you!
JFLO
Hey,
This recipe looks pretty cool because I never seen candy like this before. I want to try making a batch for Valentine’s day. Do you think pink food color would alter the taste?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
You should be fine to add food coloring! You can just add it when you add the vanilla extract and nuts. 🙂