Christmas Coal Recipes

Steps:

• 1. In a large pot melt butter and add marshmallows. Stir until melted, add black color and mix in well. Add rice cereal and stir until blended. Drop by small spoonfuls onto parchment paper. Be sure they are in odd shapes. Cool. Place 3 in a small cellophane bag and tie with ribbon. Include a tag saying... "I heard you have been naughty not nice, And Santa even checked his list twice. So all the way from the cold North Pole all you're getting is a bag of coal.

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Mix together the egg white, confectioners' sugar and cocoa in a bowl with a fork until smooth and very thick. (The mixture should hang on the fork in a blob without falling off.) Whisk in the vanilla and vinegar. Whisk in enough food coloring to turn the mixture a deep black color and the brown of the cocoa is no longer visible, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon.
• Combine the granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and stir until the mixture looks like wet sand. Using a wet pastry brush, wipe down the sides of the pot where any sugar has clung to the side. Cook over medium heat until the mixture registers 258 to 260 degrees F on a candy thermometer, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately stir in the black mixture, stirring vigorously until smooth. Spread in the prepared pan and let harden and cool completely, about 2 hours.
• Lift the candy out of the pan using the parchment paper overhang as handles. Peel off the parchment and chip into small irregular-sized pieces using a chisel or a sturdy butter knife and rubber mallet.