If you’re interested in learning to make candy you’ll love making suckers and other hard-tack candies. Although these types of candy aren’t the easiest of candies to make they’re not really considered difficult. There are several steps involved, though, but you can easily make it happen. There are only a few ingredients to add but you’ll also need candy molds and a candy thermometer. If you don’t have the thermometer there is an additional step you can do to test the readiness of the boiled mixture.
Start by selecting the candy molds you want to use. If you’re making suckers you’ll need to have the sucker sticks lying in the molds before pouring the liquid. If you’re making hard-tack candies with no sticks you’ll use ordinary molds rather than sucker molds. No matter what types of hard candies you’re making spray each candy mold with non-stick cooking spray and set aside until you’re ready to pour.
In a heavy saucepan pour in two cups of sugar, two-thirds cup of light corn syrup, and three-fourths cups of water. Stir constantly, over medium heat, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Insert the candy thermometer into the mixture. The thermometer should never touch the bottom of the pan. Allow the mixture to continue boiling – without continuing to stir – until the thermometer has a reading of 260 degrees. At this point add several drops of food coloring to create the tint you desire. Do not stir the coloring into the mixture; just drop it in.
Continue letting the mixture boil without stirring. When the thermometer reads 300 degrees it’s time to remove it from the burner. If you don’t have a candy thermometer there is a test you can perform to see if the mixture is sufficiently cooked. Drop a half-teaspoon of mixture into a glass of cold water. If the mixture forms brittle strands it is ready to remove from heat.
After the mixture settles a minute, and is no longer boiling, you can then add the flavoring. Extracts and similar flavorings can be used to make the suckers tasty. If the flavoring is sold in tiny candy-flavoring bottles, you’ll add the entire bottle but otherwise, a couple of tablespoons of flavoring should suffice. Unlike the food coloring it’s necessary to stir the flavoring into the mix.
Pour the candy into the molds you’ve already prepared. If you have no molds you can also pour the liquid onto foil. Tear two sheets of equal-size foil pieces. Stack the two sheets and begin folding the sides up, all the way around. Pinch the corners to secure. The foil pieces should now look something like a baking pan. Pour the mixture into the foil and allow to set up. If using the foil method you can score the candy, as it sets up, or you can wait until it’s hard and break it into pieces with an ice crusher.
You can also use a cookie sheet instead of foil to create the scored candy squares or broken candy pieces. Be sure to spray the cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Make the candy much quicker by using the microwave instead of the stove top. Put a cup of sugar and a half-cup of light corn starch into a microwave-proof glass bowl or measuring cup. Microwave for three minutes – or a few seconds longer – until the mixture is boiling. Remove from microwave and add a few drops of coloring and a half a bottle or a tablespoon of the flavoring. Stir. Do not use the same spoon you stirred the sugar and corn syrup mixture with.
Pour the candy mixture into the prepared sucker or candy molds. Like the stove top method you can also use a cookie sheet or foil pan to make the candy. After creating the individual pieces, by scoring or by breaking, you can then sprinkle on powdered sugar, if so desired.
It’s not difficult to make hard candy and suckers but many people think it is. It does take several steps, but overall, candy making is fairly simple. Just make sure you get the mixture to the proper temperature in order to have the best results.
Reference:
- Purchase candy molds here: www.michaels.com
