Sea Foam

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:

• Toffee
• Honeycomb
• Peanut Brittle
• Peanut Butter Fudge
• Saltine Cracker Candy
• Peppermint Bark

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 1/2 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!

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More Candy Recipes You May Like:

• Potato Candy
• Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge
• Peanut Brittle

Sea Foam

A tried and true recipe for old-fashioned Sea Foam Candy! This recipe is similar to Divinity but made with both white and brown sugar and it uses less corn syrup. 

For best results, do not attempt to make Sea Foam candy on a humid day. Cool, dry weather is best for Sea Foam

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Candy

Cuisine: American

Keyword: christmas candy, divinity, old fashioned candy, seafoam

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Cooling Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 1 lb

Author: Sam

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
• 1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed 200g
• 1/2 cup water 120ml
• 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 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 1/2 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

This is the candy thermometer that I use (affiliate)

*Optional: If the nuts you are using aren't already chopped, I recommend lightly toasting them on 350F (175C) for about 5 minutes to really bring out the flavor. Toast the nuts before chopping, then allow them to cool and chop into small pieces before adding into your Sea Foam.

**Stiff peaks have formed when you can remove the whisk from the mixture and the peak that forms (like in the photo) stands tall and does not fold back into itself when you turn it upside-down.

How to Store Sea Foam

Store candy at room temperature in an airtight container for up to several weeks.

Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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