Pecan Divinity

Sugar, Corn Syrup, Egg Whites, Pecans, Confectioners Sugar (Sugar, Cornstarch), Modified Soy Protein, Natural Vanilla Flavoring.

No one knows exactly where divinity candy was born, but its roots reach back to the early 20th century. With the Industrial Revolution, American kitchens opened to new foods modern conveniences. At that time, corn syrup was transforming the art of candy making, including a billowy, cloud-white candy so light and sweet it was said to be “divine.”

Divinity’s exact birthplace remains a mystery, likely in the American South, where sugar and pecans were staples of kitchen life. The earliest printed recipes began appearing around 1915, describing a candy that combined whipped egg whites with a hot mixture of sugar and corn syrup. When poured and beaten together, the syrup transformed the eggs into a fluffy, glossy mass—half meringue, half nougat—that would set into airy, melt-in-your-mouth bites of sweetness. It became not just a candy, but a symbol of hospitality and celebration, especially in the South, where pecans often topped each piece like a crown. By the mid-20th century, divinity had found its place among the classic holiday candies—alongside fudge, pralines, and brittle—shared in tins and wrapped in wax paper at Christmastime.

Here’s A Lovely Account of Holiday Divinity from one of True Treats’ Friends

My grandmother and her mother before her made their confections in their kitchens; no store-bought stuff in their homes: all were made by hand and made with love.  Both made Divinity for Christmas. I remember my grandmother pulling out her Sunbeam mixer and begin to set out fresh ingredients from her Sears Kenmore refrigerator in her brown and pink kitchen. Wouldn't she be chic now?

Of course, the pecans were grown in her backyard. My grandfather would sit in his lawn chair, propped against the house near the back door, shelling the pecans in the cool shade of the evenings.  Memmaw would mix, scrape, and stir the ingredients, and standing at her side, I would beg to crack the eggs and lick the beaters. She could make the prettiest little drops of that sugary confection.

The candy was the purest white arranged in her crystal candy dishes. My Pappaw, with an impish grin, would reach for the sticky delights as my grandmother, back turned, would say, "Ed, you leave that Divinity alone. That's for our Christmas dinner!" She always told me she had eyes in the back of her head. Until she passed away in 1986, we never had a Christmas without Divinity.

How I am warmed by these memories. Thank you for the opportunity to share!