Easy Homemade Hard Candy Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How is hard candy made? ›

Recipes for hard candy use a sugar syrup, such as sucrose, glucose or fructose. This is heated to a particular temperature, at which point the candy maker removes it from the heat source and may add citric acid, food dye, and some flavouring, such as a plant extract, essential oil, or flavourant.

In hard candy making, it is important to cook all the water out of the sugar/corn syrup/water mixture. If the sugar mixture is not cooked to the proper temperature (the hard-crack stage 300-310° F {149-154° C.} or if you are working in a kitchen with high humidity, chances are your candy is retaining too much moisture.

Storing these sweets in the same container will cause the harder candies to become sticky. To make sure that hard candies stay hard, sprinkle with finely ground sugar and store in an airtight jar.

Most candies will keep 2 to 3 weeks (if not longer) if stored tightly covered in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator. It's best to avoid storing different types of candy together in the same container because hard candies will become soft and sticky, and soft candies will dry out.

Sugar, mainly sucrose from sugar beets or sugarcane, is the major constituent of most candies. Other sweeteners employed in candy manufacture include corn syrup, corn sugar, honey, molasses, maple sugar, and noncaloric sweeteners.

Cream of tartar can prevent your homemade hard candy, caramel, and toffee from forming a gritty texture due to sugar crystallization. Adding a pinch of cream of tartar to your sugar syrup will help break down the sugar molecules and stop them from crystalizing early on.

The hard-ball stage of sugar is when heated sugar syrup reaches a thick consistency that holds its shape when cooled in cold water. If you pour melted sugar from the pan into cold water, you can form it into a ball that will not flatten on its own. This stage occurs between 250 and 266 degrees Fahrenheit.

Use 1/8 teaspoon citric acid per 2 cups of sugar and work your way up from there. Or you could make a sour coating by dredging your candies in 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid mixed with a cup of sugar.

This is crystallization and it is sometime happens with hard candies. Crystallization can happen from storage conditions or other factors. There is very low moisture content in hard candy, which prevents mold from growing.

Corn syrup is a common ingredient in many hard candy recipes because it is an invert sugar. Invert sugar inhibits the formation of sugar crystals and provides a smooth texture to hard candy, caramel, and other cooked sweets.

Can you use parchment paper when making hard candy? ›

Quickly pour the syrup into lightly oiled molds or on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and let harden. To prevent the candy from sticking, dust finished pieces with powdered sugar.

Although bacteria cannot grow in most confectioneries, pathogens are likely to survive in the product for several months after manufacturing.

If the candy forms thick threads when it drips from the spoon, it is in the hard ball stage or 250°—265°F. If you gather the candy mixture into a ball it will be a hard ball. Divinity or rock candy is typically cooked to this stage.

People might see a white coating on the dark chocolate when it's older, which is called “bloom.” Bloom is not harmful and it's safe to eat. Hard candy like lollipops can last up to a year when stored at room temperature or in a cool, dry location. Gummies last for six to nine months from the date of purchase.

Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy 2 quart saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved; then cook without stirring, lowering the heat and cooking more slowly during the last few minutes, to the hard crack stage (300 degrees F).

JOLLY RANCHER candies are manufactured by creating a solution of corn syrup, sucrose, glucose, or fructose syrup that is boiled to a temperature of 160 °C/320F and cooled to create a supersaturated mixture that is roughly 2.5 percent water.

The hard, shiny shells on candies are often made from shellac, a resin secreted by the lac bug. You may know shellac from its more famous work in varnishes and sealants, but it's also a mainstay in pill coatings, candy, coffee beans, and even the waxy sheen on apples and other fruits and vegetables.

Most candy contains sugar and/or corn syrup as a sweetener with a few other ingredients to add flavor and texture. Hard rock candies, such as fruit drops, are mainly crystalized sugar that dissolve when surrounded by saliva.