Next up was the first candy recipe — Puddin’ Candy Clusters from the “Company’s Best” section of the cookbook on p. 133.

This was a very sweet candy with a kick of salty, crunchy peanuts.

These were made with sugar, pudding mix (not instant), evaporated milk, butter, vanilla and salted peanuts. I think this is the first recipe that required vanilla — which I usually use in most cookies.

The sugar, pudding mix and evaporated milk were heated on the stove, and the butter added.

After boiling for a short time, it’s taken off the stove, and the vanilla added. Then add the peanuts and beat the mixture, while still hot. Though, the instructions give no further information on how long to beat other than “it will get a bit dull.”

Finally, the mixture goes into a greased loaf tin. I lined mine with aluminum foil, since I was worried about it sticking. Leave it until it cools, and then cut. I found that the foil worked really well to get them out of the pan!

They turned out to be excessively sweet — which is saying a lot for me, because I have a big sweet tooth. The salted peanuts helped with that, but not entirely. The texture was not entirely pleasant, so I wondered if I didn’t beat it long enough … or maybe too long?

Bottom line: These were excessively sweet candies with a crunchy, salty peanut kick. The texture did not turn out as nice as I was hoping, though they tasted okay. I doubt I’ll make them again, as there are many other things I like better.