hard candy

For this experiment I used LorAnn flavorings for the first time. Because the bottle said that the product was “super concentrated” I used a lot less than my recipe called for — big mistake. Each candy tasted mostly like corn syrup and only a little like strawberry flavoring. Next time I’ll probably add a whole bottle to one batch of candy.

The actual candy making process wasn’t that difficult.

1 & 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
flavor oil
liquid food coloring

Stir all the ingredients together in a medium pot. Cook over medium heat until temp reaches 300 degrees (or hard crack stage). Immediately remove from heat at 300, allow bubbles to subside, then add flavoring and food coloring. Probably about 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of flavoring (or a whole bottle of LorAnn flavoring) will work. Drop in food coloring until you reach a color that you like.

I used a plastic oriental soup spoon to stir and ladle the candy into the mold. I’ve seen recipes that recommend using a small funnel to make sure all the candy ends up in the mold. Although I had some strings and globs on my mold (since I don’t have a funnel), they weren’t a big issue.

A word about the molds: For this batch I used silicone ice cube molds that I bought at Target (I’ve seen them many other places as well). These babies worked like a dream. I poured the candy in (without oiling the mold), let the candy set, and then twisted the mold to pop the candy out. No mess, perfect candy.

Cleanup: Let me warn you right now: cleaning up hard candy can be difficult. I put my pot (with some candy still in the bottom) in the sink, added some water, and *poof* — pot full of rock hard candy. It turns out that soaking a pot in hot water for about half an hour disolves and loosens the candy enough for it to come out of the pot.