Divinity (like my grandma used to make)

I don't normally post my cooking here, but I'm proud of these. They took two hours to make and nearly killed a new stand mixer.

For those who have never heard of Divinity (which is everyone outside of the southern United States I think) it is a dense candy of whipped egg whites, sugar syrup, vanilla and toasted pecans. They're really soft once they set up and my grandma used to make them for Christmas.

If anyone wants a recipe let me know and I'll write it up (hint, it's not easy).

Side note, why is there a tag for candied pecan?

Edit: for those who want the recipe, it's late for me and I'm on mobile so I'll write it up and edit this post tomorrow with a link.

Ok, no link, just putting the recipe here.

Tools you'll need:
Stand Mixer (hand mixer could work but is not recommended)
Baking sheet with a rim
Parchment or wax paperCandy Thermometer

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
3/4 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (392 g)
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar (336 g)
3 cups pecan halves (340 g)
1/8 teaspoon salt (a dash)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Cooking:
Adjust the oven rack to middle and preheat oven to 350. pour pecan halves on the baking tray and spread them into a single layer. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring once or twice until slightly browned. Cool nuts to room temp, select 40 of the nice looking pieces for garnish and coarsely chop the rest. Put the chopped nuts in a mesh strainer and shake any dust off, set aside. Line two pans with the wax or parchment paper.

Pour the water into a saucepan, add both sugars and the corn syrup and be careful not to get sugar crystals on the walls of the pan (if you do, it will cause the candies to crystallize and they will be very hard). cook on high heat until the sugar syrup boils. reduce heat on medium and cook until the candy thermometer reads 255. Do not stir the syrup, this will also cause the candies to crystallize, just let it boil in the pan.

When you turn heat down to medium for the syrup, pour your egg whites into the stand mixer and beat on high until stiff peaks form. Once the syrup is ready, turn mixer on medium and slowly pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites. once all the syrup is mixed in, add the dash of salt and turn mixer on high. Beat mixture until it loses most of its sheen and stiff peaks form when lifting the whisk (this took 22 minutes for the batch above). WARNING: this nearly burnt out the motor on my mixer, i have a kitchenaid pro 6000 hd for those wondering and even it started smelling funny. i recommend keeping either an ice pack on the motor to keep it from over heating, or place a cold wet towel on it to help wick the heat away.

When it forms stiff peaks, stir in the coarsely chopped nuts, vanilla and vinegar, mix on medium until well combined. Drop tablespoons of the mixture onto the wax or parchment lined pans (should make around 40) and press a pecan half into the top of each. let them rest in a dry area for 2-4 hours to set up and they will be ready to eat. hope this helps those of you that never got recipes from loved ones, make some candy and have a happy holiday!