Barley sugar is a hard candy made by combining barley water with white sugar, traditionally enjoyed in the UK, France, and the US. Its origins are unclear, but it may have been a mistranslation of “burnt sugar.” The candy is made by boiling barley water and sugar until it reaches the “hard crack” stage, then pouring it into molds or shaping it into strips or lozenges.
Barley sugar is a type of hard candy that has been enjoyed throughout the United Kingdom (UK), France and the United States (US) for hundreds of years. It is traditionally made with water that has soaked the barley, providing both color and flavor to the candy. Modern versions, however, may often leave out the barley and still use the name “barley sugar” to refer to the product. Barley sugar is made primarily by combining barley water with white sugar, heating to the “hard crack” stage, then pouring it in long strips, twists, lozenges, or into molds for modeling.
The origins of barley sugar appear to date back to England or France somewhere in the early 17th century. While barley is used in the preparation, it is fairly minimal and the name may in fact be a mistranslation of “burnt sugar” from the French term sucre brûlé. This term was then translated into French where the candy is called sucre d’orge, literally “barley sugar”. A particular recipe for barley sugar was created by a monk in the French town of Moret-sur-Loing, where the Musée du Sucre d’Orge or “Museum of Barley Sugar” was later built.
A basic recipe for barley rock candy starts with barley soaked in water. The water with the barley is brought to a boil, then lowered and left to simmer for several hours. This is then removed from the heat and left to cool. The barley water can then be strained or the liquid carefully removed, leaving the barley in the bottom of the pan. This barley water is then combined with sugar – two parts sugar to one part barley water – in another pan and set over the heat.
Sometimes a small amount of cream of tartar or tartaric acid is added to this mixture before heating, although this isn’t always necessary. The barley water and sugar are then boiled, then covered for a few minutes to allow the steam to clean the excess sugar off the sides of the pan. It is then uncovered and continues to boil, without stirring, until it reaches between 300°F (about 149°C) and 310°F (about 154°C), what is known by confectioners as the hard stage of candy making . This stage can also be tested by dripping a small amount of the syrup into a bowl of very cold water, where the syrup should immediately form a brittle piece of candy.
The pan of liquid barley candy is then removed from the heat and quickly placed in a shallow container of ice water to keep the syrup from cooking any further. After a few moments of cooling, it should begin to thicken and can then be poured onto a surface such as marble or a non-stick mat and allowed to cool. It can be shaped into strips, twisted or dropped into lozenges while still hot, or poured into molds to form shapes.
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