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.

Humidity is the enemy of hard candy. It will turn it into hard, sticky, goo. I'd try sealing a few pieces in an air-tight container along with some dry rice (or better, silica gel packets) and see if that works better.

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.

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, Glucose Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Lactic Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavours, Colour (with Tartrazine). May Contain Traces of Soy and/or Milk. May Contain Traces of Nuts and/or Other Seeds.

Hard candy is primarily made of fructose and glucose syrups mixed with purified water, flavorings, and colorings. Each ingredient needs to be prepared and heated according to the specifications for the desired product, before being mixed together.

It can help stabilize and maintain the structure of whipped cream and meringue so they don't fall flat once you're done whipping them. Preventing sugar crystallization. Cream of tartar can prevent your homemade hard candy, caramel, and toffee from forming a gritty texture due to sugar crystallization.

How it helps Candy Making. Adding cream of tartar when you're making candy helps prevent the creation of sugar crystals. That's why lots of icing, syrup or candy recipes call for it: it makes it so the end product doesn't have large crunchy sugar capsules.

If the candy forms a firm but not hard ball, it is in the firm ball stage. The temperature of this stage is between 242—248°F. Caramels are cooked to the firm ball stage. If the candy forms thick threads when it drips from the spoon, it is in the hard ball stage or 250°—265°F.

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.

What makes hard candy harden? ›

The process of turning sugar into a hard, smooth, transparent confection involves heating a sugar/corn syrup/water solution to 300 – 310° F. {150 - 155° C.}, or what is known as the hard crack stage of sugar. The use of a candy thermometer is not essential, but highly recommended and accuracy is critical.

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.

Use a Pizza cutter to score the candy vertically into the size of piece you prefer, we do about 1" pieces. If the candy is still too hot the lines will ooze back together and will need to be gone over again. When the lines hold their own you can continue with the horizontal cuts.

This hard candy recipe can easily be adjusted by using different flavored extracts and food colorings. The hardest part is waiting for the sugar to reach the proper temperature.

Stir white sugar, corn syrup, and water together in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Without stirring, heat to 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.

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.

Eating hard candies is also bad for your jaw because it requires a lot of chewing and can irritate the gums and other soft tissues of your mouth. Hard candies also conduct more heat than soft candies, and this can burn your sensitive oral tissues.

Hard rock candies, such as fruit drops, are mainly crystalized sugar that dissolve when surrounded by saliva.