Homemade White Rabbit Creamy Candy (自制“大白兔”牛奶糖）

 

INTRODUCTION

When Asian Food Channel posted a picture of white rabbit creamy candy in its timeline, it caught my attention because I did not have this sweet for many years. Yes, in fact it brought lots of  childhood memories…I love this candy for its creamy and milk taste….

I was reading that in a 5 star hotel lobby  while waiting for my guest, I immediately switched  to my Safari looking for a recipe for this candy.. Logically, since this is a Chinese candy, I searched for Chinese recipes.. In fact there are only a handful of recipes in the Chinese website, I only managed to find one that uses only 3 ingredients and  I decided to give it a try 2 days later and I am extremely happy with the outcome… It is made with 3 simple household ingredients but  it is much milkier and softer than the store bought harder candy..Not as sweet as the original version.

The only imperfection is that  it is not as chewy and become soft rather easily at room temperature and it had to be stored at the refrigerator.. Well, that is totally acceptable to me since all are at home and we will not be bringing these sweets anywhere…I do have a hard time to shape my candy for picture taking since it will become soft when it is in your hand….Possibly some Arabic gum is needed to hold the candy at room temperature, but for me, homemade recipes shall have as little ingredients as possible.

How popular is this candy? When I posted the photos of these homemade candies in a Facebook Group, within 12 hours, it gathers more than 1000 likes  with over 200 comments and the likes are still growing as at time of writing this report..Not because of my ugly candies but more because it brought fond memories to them and some are requesting for recipes after it was banned years ago (see below).

Though this candy have accompany most of us to grow up, I found that I knew so little about them until I researched Wikipedia on the status of this candy.. OMG, Wikipedia have such a long write up on them and I have to limit myself to share 5 interesting facts about this candy:

• White Rabbit Creamy Candy is a brand of candy manufactured by Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food, Ltd. (Chinese: 上海冠生园食品有限公司) pinyin=Shànghǎi Guānshēngyuán Shípǐn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, in the People’s Republic of China.

• White Rabbit sweets have been advertised with the slogan, “Seven White Rabbit candies is equivalent to one cup of milk“, and positioned as a nutritional product in addition to being a sweet. The candies hence accompanied the growth of a generation. Former students of the early Deng Xiaoping era in China (1978 to the early 1990s), have been reported to have taken this slogan literally and made ‘hot milk’ in their dormitory cooking rings by dissolving the candies in a pan of hot water

• In 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai used White Rabbit candies as a gift to American president Richard Nixon when the latter visited China. Today White Rabbit candies are China’s top brand of sweet. Although the White Rabbit brand already had some history, its popularity worldwide has grown with the economy of China. Cities and agricultural villages’ demands are increasing, especially during the Chinese New Year period, when many families provide White Rabbit sweets among other candies for visitors. In 2004, White Rabbit candy sales hit 600 million Renmibi, with sales increasing rapidly by a double-digit percentage yearly. The candies are now exported to more than forty countries and territories, including the United States,Europe and Singapore.

• White Rabbit Creamy Candy is white, with a soft, chewy texture, and is formed into cylinders approximately 3 cm long and 1 cm in diameter, similar to contemporary western nougat or taffy. Each candy is wrapped in a printed waxed paper wrapper, but within this, the sticky candies are again wrapped in a thin edible paper-like wrapping made from sticky rice. Although the rice wrapping layer is meant to be eaten along with the rest of the candy, it does not figure in the list of ingredients, which is limited to corn starch, syrup, cane sugar,butter, and milk.

• When White Rabbit candy was returned to export in 2009, it also underwent a name change to Golden Rabbit Creamy Candy. Aside of avoiding the marketing stigma associated with the tarnished White Rabbit name, the Golden Rabbit candy is made using milk from Australia instead of China. Original White Rabbit is also being manufactured, with milk coming from New Zealand. (Note: that in the period 2007 to 2009, there are various allegations of the candies that were contaminated by chemicals such as melamine and formaldehyde. These lead to recall of the candies and banned by certain countries. It subsequently resumed exporting in 2009) (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rabbit_Creamy_Candy)

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: 手工牛奶糖

Servings : a small tray of about 10cm x 8 cm x 1 cm of milk candies

• 200 grams of fresh cream for whipping
• 200 grams of fresh milk
• 35 grams of castor sugar
• Some edible rice paper (if you want to wrap the candy)

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Get ready a container and lined with some aluminium foil or non stick baking paper.

• In a non stick pan, put the 3 ingredients together. Bring to boil under medium heat. Once it boils, lower to low heat, continue boiling until it thickens, with lots of bubbles and the colour turns light yellowish. During this process, constant stirring is required to prevent burnt in the bottom. The colour will slightly darkens from whitish to beige to light yellow. If you continue to let it boil, it will become brownish meaning the the sugar is burnt and start caramelization. It should be slightly thicker than the consistency of condensed milk. As an estimation, the timing should be about 15-20 minutes.

• Transfer to the prepared container and chilled in the freezer after completely cooled for at least 5-6 hours. If time permits, it is best to chill overnight. Cut into your desired sizes and wrapped with edible rice paper if prefer. Best serve directly from the fridge.

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CONCLUSION

Trust me, the sweet is delicious. It is softer and milkier than the store bought version. It will melts in your mouth. I have a hard time of keeping my kids away as they are eyeing on these homemade candies than the store bought version. Reasons are simple, they are eating cream, fresh milk and sugar in a concentrated form. It you are concerned that it is sweet, you can lower the sugar by 10%.. But for me, for a small piece, it is just nice to curb my sugar cravings after a heavy meal.

 

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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